LAS VEGAS - The Mirage, West Virginia's team hotel, experienced a power outage Friday morning.

In the evening, though, the Mountaineers were certainly plugged in.

Before a sparse crowd at the Orleans Arena, WVU blew past Iowa 87-68 in the Las Vegas Invitational to move to 4-0. The Mountaineers will play the winner of Friday's late game between Kansas State and Kentucky tonight at 10:30 EST on ESPN2.

It was an impressive performance by the Mountaineers. For most of the game, in fact, it looked as if they were again playing Longwood or Delaware State on the tournament's campus sites instead of a Big Ten school.

Before a small, yet partisan Iowa crowd, six WVU players, led by John Flowers' 14 points, hit double figures en route to the victory.

"We've been working toward this for a while,'' said Mountaineer guard Alex Ruoff, who had 13 points and three assists. "Like for two to three weeks.''

It showed. WVU beat up Iowa both emotionally and physically in the desert. The Mountaineers forced 21 turnovers and had six steals. They had 38 points in the paint to Iowa's 18.

"We played like we know how to play,'' said point guard Joe Mazzulla. "The last three games were a waste. It's good to come out and play like we practice.

"Iowa's a good 3-point shooting team. We wanted to make them feel uncomfortable with our pressure defense. I just think we now need to settle down offensively. We're so intense defensively, something that carries over too much on the other end.''

The two teams went back and forth early in the first half until West Virginia's athletic superiority took over. After the Hawkeyes took an 11-9 lead on an Anthony Tucker trey, the Mountaineers used a pressure defense and a fast-break offense to go on a 20-0 run.

Within that run, Huggins' two point guards were key. Mazzulla started the flurry with a pair of free throws and later added two on a drive. Freshman Darryl "Truck" Bryant, meanwhile, was dazzling, hitting a scoop drive, hitting a 3-pointer from the right side and, later, drawing a foul and converting a pair of free throws.

LAS VEGAS - The Mirage, West Virginia's team hotel, experienced a power outage Friday morning.

In the evening, though, the Mountaineers were certainly plugged in.

Before a sparse crowd at the Orleans Arena, WVU blew past Iowa 87-68 in the Las Vegas Invitational to move to 4-0. The Mountaineers will play the winner of Friday's late game between Kansas State and Kentucky tonight at 10:30 EST on ESPN2.

It was an impressive performance by the Mountaineers. For most of the game, in fact, it looked as if they were again playing Longwood or Delaware State on the tournament's campus sites instead of a Big Ten school.

Before a small, yet partisan Iowa crowd, six WVU players, led by John Flowers' 14 points, hit double figures en route to the victory.

"We've been working toward this for a while,'' said Mountaineer guard Alex Ruoff, who had 13 points and three assists. "Like for two to three weeks.''

It showed. WVU beat up Iowa both emotionally and physically in the desert. The Mountaineers forced 21 turnovers and had six steals. They had 38 points in the paint to Iowa's 18.

"We played like we know how to play,'' said point guard Joe Mazzulla. "The last three games were a waste. It's good to come out and play like we practice.

"Iowa's a good 3-point shooting team. We wanted to make them feel uncomfortable with our pressure defense. I just think we now need to settle down offensively. We're so intense defensively, something that carries over too much on the other end.''

The two teams went back and forth early in the first half until West Virginia's athletic superiority took over. After the Hawkeyes took an 11-9 lead on an Anthony Tucker trey, the Mountaineers used a pressure defense and a fast-break offense to go on a 20-0 run.

Within that run, Huggins' two point guards were key. Mazzulla started the flurry with a pair of free throws and later added two on a drive. Freshman Darryl "Truck" Bryant, meanwhile, was dazzling, hitting a scoop drive, hitting a 3-pointer from the right side and, later, drawing a foul and converting a pair of free throws.

Iowa finally snapped the run when Jeff Peterson got loose inside at 8:52 to cut West Virginia's advantage to 29-13. WVU, though, closed out the half in strong fashion and held a 48-29 lead.

West Virginia's defense forced Iowa into 17 turnovers in the first half. And the Mountaineers took advantage. At one point in the span, WVU had outscored the Hawkeyes 21-1 in points off turnovers. At the halftime break, the margin was 29-6.

It was a thorough domination. West Virginia hit 80 percent (4-of-5) from behind the 3-point arc in the half to Iowa's 42.9. In the paint, the Mountaineers outscored the Hawkeyes by 24-10.

WVU dominated in every first-half category except the field goal percentage. The Mountaineers, though, got 10 more shots off. In free throw shooting, WVU hit 10-of-12.

Also, nine WVU players hit the floor. Eight scored. Only Will Thomas failed to in two minutes of action.

"When you looked at the score at halftime, and saw we shot 60 percent and were down 20, my goodness,'' said Iowa coach Todd Lickliter. "Their level of talent and physical play was something we hadn't experienced. It's a very skilled basketball team.''

West Virginia cooled in the second half, mainly because of its free throw shooting. After hitting 83.3 percent in the first half, the Mountaineers could only convert 5-of-22 after the break. They finished the game hitting 44.1 percent.

Besides Flowers, WVU received 13 points from Mazzulla and Ruoff, 12 from Da'Sean Butler and 10 from Bryant and Wellington Smith. Anthony Tucker led Iowa with 24 points.

Briefly

The Devan Bawinkel angle to Friday's game didn't pan out. The former Mountaineer now with Iowa saw three minutes of playing time and missed a shot. ... In the first couple games Friday, Oakland defeated Delaware State by 75-70 and Southeast Missouri downed Longwood by 81-77. WVU dropped DSU in Charleston and Longwood in Morgantown.

Reach Mitch Vingle at 348-4827 or mitchvin...@wvgazette.com.