COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s highest finish in four years of Big 12 action, a glimmering No. 2 seed in America’s top-rated conference, wasn’t exactly celebrated at the team’s practice facility Monday.
“We turned some heads this year but we fell short of our goal,” said Devin Williams, fresh off a second-team All-Big 12 selection that accentuated the runner-up vibe.
Low-key even by Williams’ soft-spoken standards, he echoed Bob Huggins’ comment about riding a four-game win streak into the Big 12 tournament: “We wanted to go as No. 1. That was the whole idea.”
The conference tournament simultaneously offers No. 9 West Virginia (24-7, 13-5) a chance at a championship and a reminder how unfit for Kansas City this team looked the past three years. After going 0-3 inside the Sprint Center, the Mountaineers are better positioned to stick around this time. They should be well rested to play Thursday night against the survivor of Texas Tech (19-11, 9-9) and TCU (11-20, 2-16).
Though West Virginia followed tight road wins with home blowouts to sweep TCU 95-87 and 73-42, and Texas Tech 80-76 and 90-68, the neutral-court atmosphere is a different setting.
“They could change their whole game plan,” said point guard Jevon Carter. “You never know what someone’s going to do.”
With the tournament situated nearly 900 miles from Morgantown, Mountaineers fans have been sparse, though more may travel this year given the excitement of a program hovering around top-10 status.
Huggins doesn’t buy into the notion that Tech or TCU will be better suited to face his team a third time.
“They’ve got a frame of reference but they don’t have time to work on it” after Wednesday night’s game, he said. “It’s kind of like we used to play Syracuse twice but (in tournaments) you only have one day to get ready for it. Guys forget.”
Huggins hasn’t forgotten the toll 31 games can take, even on a team that occasionally rotates 11 players. After giving his crew Sunday off, the team ran for about 15 minutes Monday “just to keep the cardio up.”
They’ll fly to Kansas City on Tuesday and go through two practices before watching part of Texas Tech-TCU from the stands.
With an RPI of No. 9, the Mountaineers could be in play for an NCAA No. 2 seed if they reach Saturday’s title game. A championship game, which almost assuredly would feature three wins over top-30 RPI teams could help their case for a No. 1.
Not that Huggins expects any favors from the committee. His 2010 Final Four team was 27-6 after winning the Big East tournament but wound up as the last No. 2 seed and was forced to upset overall No. 1 seed Kentucky.
“I thought we were going to get a 1 then, but we weren’t even close,” he said. “We were closer to a 3 seed than we were to a 1.”
But that’s just a nugget of history, like West Virginia’s previous three exits from Kansas City.
“We feel like this year is our year, and we feel like we can get it done,” Carter said. “Anything less than a Big 12 championship is a downfall.”