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West Virginia will hit the road to take on Iowa State in what appears to be the most winnable contest left on the MountaineersƵ schedule. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa, with the game streaming on ESPN+.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Ƶ In rebuilding a team that slipped to 16-17 last season, West Virginia menƵs basketball coach Bob Huggins has returned to a familiar path to restore some grit and toughness to his program.
ƵU recently added 6-foot point guard Joe Toussaint to the roster. Though he spent the past three years at the University of Iowa, Toussaint is a native of the Bronx in New York City. And like many NYC products, Toussaint has a hard-nosed mentality developed on the asphalt courts of The City.
ƵA New York guard has a different type of swagger. We are tough, both offensively and defensively. We have a high IQ. WeƵre not going to back down, not shy away from the big moment,Ƶ explained the Cardinal Hayes High School alum. ƵIf you come from New York, youƵre a tough person.Ƶ
Some of the greatest Mountaineers of all-time have come from the New York City area, as five of the schoolƵs top 15 career scorers grew up within sight of the Empire State Building Ƶ DaƵSean Butler with 2,095 points, Kevin Jones with 1,822 points, Lowes Moore with 1,696 points, Chris Brooks with 1,661 points and Truck Bryant with 1,590 points.
Though he is Cardinal HayesƵ all-time leading scorer with 1,712 career points, Toussaint had to adjust to a different role once he came to college.
ƵAt Iowa, I played with a bunch of guys who could score, like Keegan Murray (whose average of 23.5 points per game was the fourth-best mark in Division I this past season), so my role wasnƵt really to score (4.3 points per game in 2021-22). My role was to facilitate (a team-high 3.2 assists per game) and play defense (a team-high 1.4 steals per game), but I can score when I need to. I can put the ball in the basket in a variety of ways.Ƶ
In 98 career games at Iowa, starting 41 of them, Toussaint averaged 4.8 points, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He converted 40% of his field goal attempts (170 of 421), 27.7% of his 3-point tries (23 of 83) and 76.6% of his free throws (108 of 141).
So far in his college career, heƵs been known for his ability to pass and defend, but Toussaint wants to add to his resume at ƵU, where he has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
ƵIƵm looking to expand my game,Ƶ the son of Satuyee Toussaint noted. ƵI know have it in me, and I know what I can do. IƵm always in the gym. IƵm ready to show West Virginia what IƵve got.Ƶ
Toussaint was part of a program at Iowa that had plenty of success in his three years there. The Hawkeyes were 26-10 this past season, 22-9 in 2020-21 and 20-11 in 2019-20, finishing each of those seasons ranked in the top 25. Under coach Fran McCaffery, Iowa stresses offense; it scored 83.2 points per game in Ƶ21-Ƶ22, which was the fifth-highest average in Division I.
ƵThey play fast, and Fran is a good coach,Ƶ said Toussaint. ƵThe (Iowa City) area was good, my parents liked it, so I thought it was the best place for me coming out of high school.Ƶ
Toussaint saw plenty of playing time once he arrived at Iowa (1,529 career minutes played), but his path to becoming the HawkeyesƵ full-time starting point guard featured some twists and turns.
ƵJordan (Bohannon) was a junior here when I was a senior in high school,Ƶ Toussaint noted of IowaƵs veteran point guard who completed his college career as the NCAAƵs all-time leader in games played with 179. ƵI was looking at it that I could learn a lot from him when I was a freshman and he was a senior. Then I could run the show from that point on. Unfortunately, he got hurt (in 2019-20, taking a medical redshirt), then came the COVID year, so IƵve been playing behind him for three years (as Bohannon was a sixth-year senior this past season).Ƶ
Even though Bohannon finally ran out of college eligibility at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, Toussaint decided he wanted to make a fresh start. He entered the transfer portal in late March, and quickly connected with a college that had drawn his attention when he was a prep star in the Bronx.
ƵOut of high school, I thought I was a Bob Huggins-type kid, and I wanted that offer,Ƶ he remembered in a recent interview on the ƵMetroNews Statewide Sportsline.Ƶ ƵI played defense, and I could score the ball in a variety of ways. I could see myself in his system. I used to watch Jevon Carter a lot, and I watched Deuce McBride play there when I was here. IƵm also really good friends with Truck Bryant, who was on their Final Four team.
Ƶ(The Mountaineers) showed interest in me while I was in high school, but they already had a bunch of guards. Jordan McCabe was there, and Deuce was committed, so they told me they didnƵt want to offer me when they already had a number of guards; it wouldnƵt be fair to me. I was like, ƵOK, thatƵs fine,Ƶ and I went to Iowa.Ƶ
But given a second chance, the Toussaint-West Virginia connection clicked.
ƵThis time when they reached out to me, they were definitely No. 1 on my list,Ƶ he said. ƵI went down for a visit and had a long and really good conversation with Coach Huggs. That sealed it for me.Ƶ
Toussaint signed with ƵU on April 14. He will be in Morgantown soon, as the Mountaineer players will gather on campus in early June for the start of summer workouts.
There are plenty of new pieces on this yearƵs roster, as only five players return from last season. Still, despite a reconfigured lineup, Huggins hopes a New York-tough guard like Toussaint can provide the Mountaineers with some ingredients they were sorely lacking this past year.
ƵI feel like IƵm a good team player,Ƶ explained Toussaint. ƵI donƵt pout and donƵt bad mouth anyone. I put the team first, and thatƵs what I plan to do at West Virginia.Ƶ
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Ƶ The seventh-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers held the 10th-seeded TCU Horned Frogs to 11 first-half points and advanced in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, 68-48, at Municipal Auditorium.
Madisen Smith made four 3-pointers en route to a 19-point night for Mike CareyƵs team, also passing out five assists.
JJ Quinerly added 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals, while Jayla Hemingway and Esmery Martinez put in nine points apiece.
Okako Adika scored 17 points and Lauren Heard 14 for TCU, but only four other players found the scoresheet.
ƵU held TCU to 1-of-9 shooting in the first quarter and 2-for-13 in the second quarter, including misses on all nine Horned Frog 3-point attempts.
The Mountaineers also forced 24 turnovers.
ƵU was up 17-5 after one quarter and 34-11 at the half and led by as many as 27 with 8:49 left in the third quarter.
It was a 51-29 game heading to the fourth.
West Virginia faces No. 2 seed Iowa State at 6 p.m. on Friday.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Ƶ The West Virginia womenƵs basketball team concluded its regular season with a 74-57 loss to No. 8 Iowa State on Saturday evening inside the ƵU Coliseum.
ƵU (14-14, 7-11 Big 12) was led by senior guard Madisen Smith, who tallied a team-high 11 points. She was joined in double-figure scoring by sophomore guard Savannah Samuel, who finished with a career-best 10 points.
Junior forward Esmery Martinez hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds to lead West Virginia on the glass. She and fifth-year senior center Blessing Ejiofor (10 rebounds) accounted for 50% of the MountaineersƵ total rebounds in the game.
Iowa State (25-5, 14-4 Big 12) was led by sophomore guard Emily Ryan, who finished with 29 points.
West Virginia went up 7-2 over Iowa State to begin the game as freshman guard JJ Quinerly netted four points in the early going.
ISU cut the game to one point following the first media break as ƵU held a 9-8 lead with 2:56 to play in the quarter. The Mountaineers countered with five points of their own, including a 3-pointer from Samuel, to extend their advantage to six points at the 1:37 mark of the frame. The Cyclones would net a pair of free throws before the end of the first to cut West VirginiaƵs lead to 14-10.
The Mountaineers fell behind by a pair to begin the second quarter as Iowa State rattled off a 6-0 run to begin the frame. After Ejiofor tied the game at 16, the Cyclones countered with five unanswered points to force a ƵU timeout. West Virginia trailed 21-16 with 6:39 to play in the first half.
After Samuel sank another triple to make it a 21-19 game out of the break, the two teams commenced to trade scores over the next three minutes to keep the game in reach for ƵU. Ejiofor scored with 2:14 to play in the quarter to tie the game at 26, but Iowa State outscored West Virginia 8-2 over the final two minutes of the period to put the Mountaineers behind 34-28 at halftime.
ƵU found itself behind by 14 to open the second half as ISU began the third quarter on a 10-2 run to lead 44-30 at the 5:53 mark of the third. A score from Smith halted the CyclonesƵ scoring flurry and cut the deficit to 44-32 at the media timeout.
The Mountaineers outscored Iowa State 12-11 following the break but continued to trail for the remainder of the quarter. ISU led by as many as 17 over the final four minutes of the period, but ƵU made it a 55-44 game heading into the fourth quarter.
Of note, Smith and fifth-year senior forward Ari Gray accounted for 10 of West VirginiaƵs 16 points in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers trailed by 14 to begin the fourth quarter as the Cyclones added three points to their total to begin the frame. ƵU then cut the lead back to 10 and trailed ISU 58-48 with 7:38 remaining. Iowa State then went back up by 14 over the next two minutes and held a 64-50 lead with 5:29 left.
West Virginia got as close as 11 points down the stretch, but ISU continued to counter on its end of the court and outscored ƵU 10-7 over the final five minutes of the game. The final two tallies of the game came after Mountaineer coach Mike Carey was assessed a double technical with 14 seconds to play and was ejected from the game.
Next up, West Virginia travels to Kansas City, Missouri, for the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 WomenƵs Basketball from March 10-13. The bracket and seedings for this yearƵs championship will be announced in the coming days.