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WVU routs No. 11 Iowa State

Feb 11, 2014 - 3:49 AM Morgantown, WV (SportsNetwork.com) - Remi Dibo scored 20 points and West Virginia made a statement in a critical Big 12 game by overwhelming No. 11 Iowa State in a 102-77 rout at WVU Coliseum.

The Cyclones entered Morgantown with the Big 12's highest scoring offense, but the Mountaineers (15-10, 7-5 Big 12) put on a shooting clinic in coming through with a victory to enhance their NCAA Tournament portfolio. West Virginia made good on 53.8 percent of its field goal attempts and went a scorching 13-of-22 from 3-point range, with Dibo knocking down 6-of-8 tries from beyond the arc.

Juwan Staten nearly produced a triple-double for the Mountaineers, tallying 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, while Eron Harris and Terry Henderson chipped in 16 points apiece.

"This helps us," said WVU head coach Bob Huggins of the win. "This is a huge step to get us back RPI-wise where we're supposed to be and get us back into the national conversation. But it's not over with. We've got to go play Texas [Saturday] and do a much better job than what we did the first time we played them (an 80-69 loss)."

Georges Niang paced Iowa State (18-5, 6-5) with 17 points and Dustin Hogue had 15 along with 10 rebounds. Melvin Ejim, coming off a Big 12-record 48-point outburst in the Cyclones' win over TCU on Saturday, was held to just six on 1- of-9 shooting, but pulled down 12 rebounds.

West Virginia dominated on both ends of the court to build a commanding 52-33 halftime lead, with much of the damage coming from a 20-4 run midway through the period.

Iowa State missed nine straight shots at one stage of the pivotal surge, with the Mountaineers ripping off 12 consecutive points during the cold spell to go up 25-14. A Niang jumper finally ended the Cyclones' drought, but Dibo buried a trey on the other end and Harris later knocked down one of his own off a steal to stake the Mountaineers to a 33-18 advantage with seven minutes left in the half.

"Obviously we made shots, and when we went to the matchup [zone] I think it kind of took their rhythm away," Huggins said. "I think they're very much a rhythm team."

The Mountaineers showed no letup over the remainder of the stanza, owning a lead as large as 21 points before cruising into the break up by 19.

Iowa State went 1-for-12 on 3-point attempts in the first half and wasn't much better in the second, finishing an off-target 4-of-23 for the contest.

"Obviously [West Virginia] hit their shots and were able to do a good job spacing and sharing the ball," said Cyclones head coach Fred Hoiberg. "That was the worst effort we have had by far this season."

The Cyclones did show some brief life after the intermission, with Niang registering six points to lead an 11-3 spurt that trimmed the deficit to 58-44 with 15 1/2 minutes left. West Virginia countered with a 13-2 push, however, that put the game out of reach.

Harris, who was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul on Hogue with 4:25 remaining, dropped in seven points during the run, which put the Mountaineers on top by a 71-46 count with 12:15 to go.

Game Notes

The 102 points were the Mountaineers' most in a game this season, eclipsing a 101-68 win over Georgia Southern on Nov. 21 ... Harris made two 3-pointers in five attempts and now has 69 treys on the season, tying a WVU sophomore record also held by Patrick Beilein (2003-04) and Alex Ruoff (2006-07) ... Iowa State surrendered 100 points for the first time since a 108-96 overtime loss to Kansas on Feb. 25, 2013 ... The Cyclones, averaging 85.0 points per game coming in, remained the only Division I team to score 70 or more in every contest this season ... Iowa State swept last season's home-and-home series, the only two previous meetings between the schools.