Tommy Birch

tbirch@dmreg.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Big 12 Conference Tournament championship trophy is coming back to Ames.

No. 24 Iowa State won its third Big 12 tournament title in the past four years and first since 2015 with an 80-74 victory over No. 11 West Virginia in Saturday night's championship game at the Sprint Center.

It’s another impressive resume-builder for the Cyclones, who earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. This was the exclamation mark.

After falling to West Virginia two times during the regular season, Iowa State got revenge on the biggest stage.

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Iowa State point guard Monte Morris scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out three assists. Deonte Burton added 16 points and five rebounds for the Cyclones.

Once Iowa State got going, the Cyclones were hard to stop. The Cyclones fell behind early as West Virginia hit five of its first eight shots from the field and took an eight-point lead.

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Iowa State’s bench is what got it going. Nick Weiler-Babb, Donovan Jackson and Darrell Bowie led 10-2 run that tied the game twice.

The Cyclones took a 28-22 lead behind an 8-0 spurt that was capped off by a Bowie basket and made free throw.

Morris scored the final seven points of the first half for Iowa State and helped the Cyclones build up a 35-29 halftime lead.

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Iowa State’s bench contributed 18 of its first 35 points, including 10 from Bowie, who shot 4-for-4 from the field in the first half.

The lead blossomed into a 10-point advantage for the Cyclones as Deonte Burton and Matt Thomas started the second half by hitting back-to-back 3s.

West Virginia cut the lead to five with 5:48 left to play. A putback by Solomon Young and a basket by Morris pushed the lead back up to nine.

Iowa State kept West Virginia at bay the rest of the way.