MORGANTOWN - It was a treacherous night to be on the road in West Virginia.
"For 12,000 fans to show up here, on this night, is unbelievable," said WVU basketball coach Bob Huggins of his team's game with No. 1 Kansas.
"I left my place near Euro-Suites [on Chestnut Ridge Road] at 3:25," said Mountaineer standout Devin Williams. "I didn't get here until 5:45."
Some fans - even players - walked through the snow to reach the Coliseum. Yet, in the end, the trek was worth it for those in the Mountaineer camp. No. 11 WVU took down the top-ranked Jayhawks 74-63, which led to a storming of the court and a student section that danced and danced and danced.
Credit Mountaineer guard Jaysean Paige for igniting that.
See, everyone at the Big 12 showdown had trouble driving on Tuesday.
Except Paige.
After West Virginia got down early, Paige, the Mountaineers' sixth man, entered the game. He imposed his will. He was the key to the ignition.
He drove the lane like a semi tractor trailer with chains on against the Jayhawks. He put West Virginia up 25-19 by doing so. Then 29-23.
Paige, the 6-foot-2 senior guard, drove and drove on Tuesday. And his scoring, well, snowballed. When the horn sounded signaling the end of the first half, the junior college transfer had 17 points in just 14 minutes of action. He finished with 26 points, five steals and four rebounds.
Not bad for a sixth man against the nation's No. 1 team, eh?
"His game has grown a lot," Huggins said. "We've been telling him to drive the ball."
The coach spoke of Paige's athleticism and strength. He spoke of the guard's ability to absorb contact and convert. Then he laid a very high compliment indeed on the player.
"He's as good a finisher as there is in this league," Huggins said.
On Tuesday, Paige was certainly vital to finishing off Kansas.
"We've been working and practicing hard," said the guard. "Ever since that Virginia loss, we've been working hard to put together 40 minutes of good play. We want to finish games, you know?"
Mission accomplished. KU had a five-point lead at 14:32. The Jayhawks led for 5:16. WVU, on the other hand, led for the remaining 33:43.
Paige wanted to make sure of it. His mother, stepfather and uncle made the trip from Jamestown, N.Y.
"This is definitely one of those nights," said the guard. "My family got to make it down here. It was a really big game with a lot of family here and friends back home watching."
In case you forgot, Paige initially signed with Southern Miss before backing out and jumping on with WVU. Now, even though he's not starting, he's the team's No. 2 scorer, averaging 13.4 points. He's hitting 50.7 percent of his field goal attempts.
"He's probably their leading scorer per minute played," said KU coach Bill Self. "We talked a lot about him coming into the game. He didn't do anything we didn't talk about."
Forget the Rain Man. He was the Snow Man against KU. Because he's an excellent driver.
"I was just trying to be aggressive," said the guard. "My jump shot hasn't really been working. I've been working on it, but it hasn't really been falling. So I've just been aggressive. I've tried to add elements to my game so people can't call me one-dimensional."
It's the product of hard work.
"My teammates and coaches give me confidence," Paige said. "I work on my game a lot. I'm in the gym and they give me the confidence to do these things. When I have the opportunity, I take it."
He plays hard. He exults hard.
"I yell, 'Let's go!' to the crowd," Paige said. "We need the crowd into a game like this. We want to keep the enthusiasm going in the game."
He certainly did so. At game's end, Paige was there for a rebound as WVU tried to milk the clock. He earned free throws. Then, the capper, he stole the ball and jammed it home.
Making the score 74-63.
And the drive home much nicer indeed for the Mountaineer faithful.