MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – How do you like Javon Small now?
 
Snubbed from the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list revealed earlier this week, the Big 12's leading scorer tallied a game-high 27 points, including 12 in a row late in the game, to lead West Virginia to a stunning 64-57 victory over second-ranked Iowa State at the WVU Coliseum today.
 
"This was one of those games you just never knew which way it was going to go," West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said afterward. "It came down to the wire, and fortunately, we were able to make enough plays to finish that thing and come out on top."
 
West Virginia needed a little Coliseum magic against an Iowa State team that was a one-point loss against top-ranked Auburn removed from being undefeated, and it got it from the 14,444 in the building this evening to celebrate Jerry West Day. 
 
West Virginia University recognized the late West's family during a halftime celebration that included the announcement that no Mountaineer player in any sport will ever wear West's jersey No. 44 again, similar to what Major League Baseball did with Jackie Robinson's No. 42.
 
The three-time NBA Hall of Famer died last June 12 in Los Angeles.
 
"What an incredible game on a day that we are honoring Jerry West's legacy and what he did, not only for this program, but for the game of basketball," DeVries said. "This is what he built, and for all these fans to come out in support of him, our program and team, it just means so much to everyone who is involved."
 
Today, it was Small who played a lot like West once did in his head-to-head matchup against Iowa State's Curtis Jones, who came into today's game averaging 17.8 points per game.
 
Jones finished with a team-high 18, but the Cyclones couldn't match West Virginia's 3-point shooting and tough, in-your-face halfcourt defense.
 
Iowa State missed its first 13 triples before Jones finally got one to go down early in the second half; it ended the day 1 of 17 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, West Virginia was successful on 9-of-27, including 4-of-8 from Amani Hansberry.  All 12 of Hansberry's points came from behind the arc.
 
Small's stat line was very Wooden Award-like with 27 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals against the No. 2 -rated team in the country.
 
"What an incredible player he is and continues to be," DeVries said of Small. "Down the stretch he just kind of willed us to win."
 
It was West Virginia's fourth victory against ranked teams so far this year.
 
Iowa State (15-2, 5-1) took an early 19-12 lead on a Jones layup, but West Virginia battled back with seven straight points to take a 22-21 lead. A Hansberry 3 with 1:15 left helped the Mountaineers to 25-24 advantage at intermission.
 
The Cyclones retook the lead to begin the second half and had a 41-37 lead with 9:09 left on Keshon Gilbert's basket.
 
But Small answered with back-to-back buckets to tie it. Then came a Jonathan Powell 3 and an Eduardo Andre steal that led to his layup and three-point play when he was fouled by Dishon Jackson.
 
After Joseph Yesufu's contested basket gave West Virginia a 51-49 lead with 2:06 left, Small took over.
 
His conventional three-point play with 1:39 remaining built the Mountaineers' lead to four, 53-49, and then a defensive stop led to two more Small free throws 20 seconds later.
 
The big basket came with 42 seconds left when Small lined up and knocked down a 3 to give West Virginia an eight-point lead. The senior guard punctuated today's performance with a breakaway dunk with 21 seconds left, much to the delight of a raucous and enthusiastic student crowd here today. Most of them stuck around afterward to celebrate with the players on the floor during the singing of Take Me Home, Country Roads.
 
"What an awesome atmosphere here in the Coliseum tonight!" DeVries said. "A thank you to the fans for that extra energy and the extra edge that we needed down the stretch."
 
Gilbert scored 13 and Joshua Jefferson added 10 for Iowa State, which saw its 12-game winning streak come to an end.
 
West Virginia, sporting special Jerry West-era throwback uniforms, boosted its record to 13-4 overall and 4-2 in Big 12 play, despite shooting just 39.3% and getting outrebounded 38 to 28 for the game.
 
The Cyclones also outscored the Mountaineers 40 to 22 in the paint, but WVU countered with 14 steals leading to a 19 to 2 edge in fastbreak points.
 
WVU's other wins over ranked foes were against third-ranked Gonzaga, against 24^th-ranked Arizona and against seventh-ranked Kansas. It is the first time since 2017, during the "Press Virginia" days, that West Virginia has defeated three top 10-ranked teams in the same season.
 
The Mountaineers remain in Morgantown to take on Arizona State on Tuesday night. The Sun Devils lost at Cincinnati earlier today.
 
Tickets for that game are on sale through the Mountaineer Ticket Office and can be purchased online by logging on to WVUGAME.com.