Photo by Dale Sparks/WVU Athletics West Virginia’s Sean McNeil goes up and above the Iowa State defense during Friday’s triumph over the Cyclones in Big 12 action.

MORGANTOWN — Miles McBride stared at the hoop, the only thing separating the West Virginia men’s basketball team from its fourth consecutive victory.

The sophomore guard knocked down the first of two free throw attempts, tying the score against Big 12 foe Iowa State. After a timeout, he knocked down the second – the dagger that placed the No. 8 Mountaineers ahead of the Cyclones

McBride finished with 18 points, and West Virginia ultimately emerged victorious with the 70-65 win.

The Mountaineers pushed ahead late after many struggles resulted in them chasing Iowa State since the first half.

While West Virginia opened up with an early lead, the Mountaineers stumbled often and allowed Iowa State to take the lead a handful of times. WVU’s struggles led to a back and forth game, in addition to a 31-30 Iowa State lead heading into halftime.

“I just feel like, to sum everything up, we just keep playing down to our competition,” forward Derek Culver said.

“I don’t understand why we do that. I don’t know. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and figure everything out, but that’s most definitely something I can see with my own eyes that we’re guilty of.”

Among those struggles? Free throw shooting.

West Virginia entered the break shooting 7-of-15 from the foul line – the worst half performance of any game this season, outside of going 1-for-3 against North Texas on Dec. 11.

West Virginia struggled shooting from the field in the second half, but a much improved performance from the foul line allowed the Mountaineers to stay in the game. Iowa State totaled 16 fouls in the second half, and West Virginia was able to go 18-of-22 from the foul line in the second half.

The Mountaineers’ defense also forced the Cyclones into turning the ball over 21 times, capitalizing for 23 points off of turnovers on the offensive side of the floor.

McBride picked up three steals and, along with Culver, both finished the night with a team-leading 18 points. Oscar Tshiebwe and Taz Sherman also ended in double figures, scoring 12 and 10 points respectively.

Outside of McBride, forward Gabe Osabuohien also picked up three steals. Tshiebwe and Sherman added a steal each.

Culver also brought down 12 rebounds, earning his fifth double-double of the season.

A critical misstep for the Mountaineers was allowing Iowa State guard Rasir Bolton – who entered the day leading the Big 12 Conference in field goal percentage – to end the night with 25 points. Bolton’s offensive effort resulted in the most points scored by an opposing player against WVU this season.

The Mountaineers will look to take momentum from the win heading into next week as they hit the road for the first time since Dec. 6. They’ll travel to Kansas, where they will take on the Jayhawks in a likely top 10 matchup. The game will tip off at 9 p.m., and it will be televised on ESPNU.

“If we can just get out of our own way and play together and stop playing down to our competition, honestly, we’ll be fine,” Culver said. “We’ve just got to keep working and go back to the drawing board.”