Men's Basketball, WVU Sports

NOTEBOOK: Matthews Jr.’s slam dunk, 13 points a big boost for No. 17 West Virginia in win against Iowa State

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The play began with Emmitt Matthews Jr. on the perimeter and with Sean McNeil caught along the baseline looking to make a pass.

Matthews made a cut to the basket, McNeil hit him with a pass and Matthews took a big leap to showing he’s back to full strength after dealing with a bout of COVID-19 last month.

Iowa State forward Solomon Young tried to challenge Matthews, but ended up on the short end of a thunderous slam dunk, as Matthews reared back with his left hand and threw it home.

The play gave WVU a 59-46 lead in what ended up as a close 76-72 WVU victory inside Hilton Coliseum.

“I don’t really remember,” Matthews said of the play. “He met me up there and that was pretty much the story. I’m pretty sure I’ll see it again 30 seconds after I leave this room.”

The junior forward had his best game since returning from quarantine. He played 26 minutes and finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

“Honestly, I feel like my energy level has been there,” he said. “When I first came back from the break, I was a little tired, but that was going to go away with a few practices and getting back into shape.”

WVU head coach Bob Huggins said Matthews lost 18 pounds during his quarantine.

How did he get it back?

“Eat and lift weights,” Matthews said.

Game of runs

After the Mountaineers (12-5, 5-3 Big 12) took an early 10-2 lead, Iowa State battled back and took a 24-17 lead on the strength of an 11-0 run followed by a 6-0 and 5-0 run.

WVU countered that with a 20-6 run and held Iowa State scoreless for more than six minutes near the end of the first half.

“You can’t (relax) with this bunch,” Huggins said. “We let down. We get ahead and we let down and we’ve done it repeatedly.”

The second half was more of the same.

WVU led, 63-48, with 10:11 remaining, but Iowa State battled back and got it to as close as 71-70 with 2:47 left.

“We just have to close out games,” said WVU guard Taz Sherman, who finished with 18 points. “That’s been the story of the year. We only really closed out one game and that was Kansas State. We haven’t really put teams away and that’s one thing we constantly keep saying.”

Texts from mom

Sherman went a perfect 5 of 5 from the free-throw line in the final 1:52, including two with 6.4 seconds remaining to secure the win.

“I’ve been a pretty good free-throw shooter my whole life,” said Sherman, who is sixth in the Big 12 making 84% of his foul shots. “I’m really used to pressure situations at the free-throw line. I did miss one today and I’m pretty sure my mom will send me a text about it.”

Apparently, La Trice Scottalbert, Sherman’s mother, is always to quick to remind Sherman of his misses.

“My mom will definitely text me about the missed free throw,” Sherman continued. “She texted me about the three missed free throws I had last game. I’m pretty sure I’ll get one right after this.”

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