It was a former Texas Tech coach who taught Bob Huggins a valuable lesson in knowing when a young team is ready to compete at a national level.
That coach was Bob Knight, back at his much more recognized stint in charge of Indiana. Knight’s Hoosiers had just beaten Huggins’ up-and-coming Cincinnati team, and in the postgame handshake Knight did a very Knight thing: he admonished Huggins for scheduling the game.
“We lost to Indiana at home, and Coach Knight said ‘This wasn’t fair to your kids. We’re used to this. We’re used to being everybody’s big game. Your kids will grow into it. It’s not their fault,’” Huggins recalled. “I was thinking, ‘What an asinine thing to say to a guy after he just got beat.’
“But he was 100 percent right. As we grew as a program, we took everybody’s best shot. We were everybody’s circled game of the year. That’s where we’ve got to get to, and rise to the occasion.”
No. 12 West Virginia (16-3, 4-2 Big 12) did not rise to the occasion the last time it ventured away from the Coliseum, getting blown out by a Kansas State team that still hasn’t beaten anyone else in the Big 12.
If the Mountaineers are indeed ready to compete for the conference title, Huggins said it must start with a win Wednesday night at Texas Tech (12-7, 3-3). The Red Raiders dipped out of the Top 25 following last week’s overtime home loss to Kentucky and figure to be in an ornery mood as they try to avoid getting swept by West Virginia.
“If we’re going to be what they aspire to do, we need to go to Lubbock and win,” Huggins said. “If you go to the film room and see the goals they’ve written on the whiteboard that they want to accomplish, then they need to go to Lubbock and win.”
The Red Raiders will have the services of 6-foot-6 power forward Terrence Shannon, who missed his team’s 66-54 loss at West Virginia on Jan. 11. Shannon is averaging 11.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, so it was no small absence. But Huggins thinks his team is equipped to handle that challenge.
“Fortunately our non-conference schedule helped us in that Derek and Oscar had to go out on the floor and guard,” Huggins said. “But he’s a mismatch for most bigs because he bounces so well.”
What Huggins doesn’t know is if his team is ready to win in a road environment like this. That will be answered sometime after the 8 p.m. tip.
“We can’t think we’ve arrived. Because we haven’t arrived,” Huggins said. “When we can go to Lubbock and win, go to Kansas and win despite all the odds, then we’ve arrived. Until then, we’re walking uphill.”
TV: 8 p.m. Streaming only, ESPN+ (Big 12 Now)