MORGANTOWN - It was a Monday night game, much like that in Charleston a week prior. WVU, now ranked No. 22 in the USA Today coaches poll, drew but 6,196 to the Coliseum to play and, eventually, whip Bethune-Cookman.
Kanawha Valley fans can insert their ribbing of Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins here if they wish. He poked at them last week when 8,101 showed at the Civic Center for James Madison.
That aside, though, the atmosphere was flat Monday for the second of four games in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational that now - hey! - moves to Vegas. The only thing we learned is WVU should be favored against Richmond.
I can write that because the Spiders defeated Bethune-Cookman 89-64. The Mountaineers defeated the same team 97-44. (I know. Handicapping is in my future, right?)
West Virginia has defeated its first four opponents by an average of 38.2 points. Devin Williams is averaging a double-double at 18 points and 11.3 rebounds. Jon Holton is almost averaging one at 9.8 and 10. And four Mountaineers aside from Williams - Jevon Carter, Daxter Miles, Jaysean Paige and Elijah Macon - are averaging double digits in scoring.
Dish credit to the team for avoiding an upset, which has become an epidemic this season. See Northern Iowa over North Carolina. See Western Illinois over Wisconsin. See William & Mary over North Carolina State. See Northern Florida over Illinois.
"We're grateful," said Williams on Monday. "We just have to keep working and getting better."
That would be the correct approach. See, with Thanksgiving approaching, WVU is getting to the meat of the schedule. That Richmond team I referenced? It took down Wake Forest of the Atlantic Coast Conference by 91-82 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
And if WVU beats the Spiders on Thursday? It will probably face California on Friday. All the Golden Bears were picked to do is finish second in the Pac-12 to Arizona. Coach Cuonzo Martin, in his first season in Berkeley, secured a Top 5 recruiting class that he's now leaning on. Cal is ranked No. 14 in the latest Associated Press poll.
"We're going to play people we're not going to turn over as much," Huggins said after his team forced 30 turnovers against Bethune-Cookman. "We're going to have to guard in the half court. Right now we're not that good at guarding in the half court."
Still, WVU's players seem in nice form and hungry.
"Since the season started I've tried to stay focused on the task at hand," Williams said. "In Vegas I expect us to be in the championship and to win the championship, but we have to focus on Richmond."
nnn
With students on break and so few in the Coliseum it wasn't difficult to track down WVU athletic director Shane Lyons. Don't think time flies? Lyons is nearing one year on the job. He was named to the post this past Jan. 5.
Anyway, Lyons was asked about his major sports at this point.
"I want us to compete for Big 12 championships," he said. "I want us to compete for national championships. I came in here in the middle of the [last] basketball season and we'd just started Big 12 play. It gave me the opportunity to see what we had there.
"Obviously, Hugs took us to the Sweet 16. That's heading in the right direction."
Lyons then approached, but barely avoided, the dreaded vote of confidence for football coach Dana Holgorsen.
"I hadn't been here for football," he continued. "It's a matter of how we can improve in football and how we can continue to get better. As we all know, this past October was a grueling month for football. We kind of knew that going in, but obviously we've rebounded nicely and have a chance to finish 8-4 and go to a bowl with a chance to finish 9-4.
"Coach Holgorsen has kept the team motivated coming into the last month, which is very important. A lot of teams can get down, but he's done a good job keeping them motivated and moving into the right direction."
It's not a vote of confidence, but it certainly is a good sign for Holgorsen.