LAS VEGAS (AP)—John Flowers scored a team-high 14 points to lead West Virginia over Iowa 85-68 in the third round of the Las Vegas Invitational on Friday.
Flowers, who pulled down eight rebounds, was 7-of-8 from the field as the Mountaineers (4-0) used a 20-0 first-half run to open a huge margin. Joe Mazzulla and Alex Ruoff each added 13 points apiece to help West Virginia reach the tournament’s championship game against the winner of the Kansas State-Kentucky game that followed.
Anthony Tucker led Iowa (5-1) with a game-high 24 points.
With the Hawkeyes leading 11-9, West Virginia went on the 20-0 run and never let the lead go below 14 points the rest of the way. Iowa had 17 turnovers in the first half as the Mountaineers built a 48-29 lead at halftime.
The Hawkeyes will play in the third-place game on Saturday.
