MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia was riding high when it visited Oklahoma on Feb. 8, sporting an 18-4 record and potentially bound for a Top-2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Times have changed.
The 20th-ranked Mountaineers (19-9, 7-8 Big 12) have only won one game since, and almost certainly need a win over the Sooners (17-11, 7-8) to stay in the Top 25.
Back-to-back losses at TCU and Texas have West Virginia fans up in arms, but Bob Huggins is not freaking out.
“I was almost tempted to come out of the casket again,” Huggins said, hearkening to a TV gag he pulled when he was at Cincinnati. “We’re 16th in the NET. From every account I can see, we’re a 5-seed. A 5-seed is a long, long way from not making the tournament.
“Everybody’s like ‘it’s the end of the world.’ It’s not the end of the world. Do we need to win? Sure. You always need to win. With who we’re playing, we’re going to continue to move up and seed up, but we’ve got to do our job and win.”
Without delving into specifics, Huggins indicated that there are some issues beneath the surface that have helped take the Mountaineers from the top of their game.
“We get people whether its fans or whatever in this social media thing, it’s absurd. They don’t know what goes on with a kid – family situation, health, girlfriends, school, whatever,” Huggins said. “We had some situations that I don’t blame them for being down, and I’m pretty hard on them. When you have situations within your family, not your basketball family, that causes you great concern. People don’t know that.”
Huggins asked for any fan frustration to be pointed in his direction.
“Take all the shots you want at me,” Huggins said. “I’ve had it before and I’ll have it again, and I’ll get even.”
The law of averages would indicate that it’s unlikely Oklahoma repeats exactly how well it shot against West Virginia in a 69-59 win. The Sooners are shooting 32 percent from three-point range this year, but were 7 of 15 (46.7 percent) on Feb. 8.
6-foot-9 Brady Manek and 6-7 Kristian Doolittle did the bulk of the damage, presenting a matchup issue for West Virginia if they get hot again.
“It’s difficult to defend in when two of their bigs can pick and pop,” Huggins said. “It spreads the floor so much. Then you’re taking guys that stood underneath the basket in high school and asking them to guard them.”
Oklahoma (17-11, 7-8) at No. 20 West Virginia (19-9, 7-8)
TV: 4 p.m., ESPN 2
Last meeting: Oklahoma beat West Virginia, 69-59, on Feb. 8 in Norman, Okla.