BROOKLYN, N.Y. _ West Virginia's basketball team suffered a nightmare at the Barclays Center Friday night in the NCAA tournament.
It was one of those nightmares in which you realize what's going on. You try to wake up. Yet you continue to sleep. The nightmare won't go away.
Against Stephen F. Austin, West Virginia slept and slept and slept. And that nightmare, the Lumberjacks, never went away. So for the second year in a row, the Mountaineers experienced NCAA horror, losing 70-56 to the 14th-seeded Lumberjacks.
No one could probably fathom West Virginia could lose in a more embarrassing fashion than it did in last season's 78-39 face-plant against Kentucky. But just ask Mountaineer assistant Erik Martin which was worse.
“This one, because I think we could have made it to the Final Four,” said the assistant coach. “Last year, against Kentucky, we ran up against a team that will never be assembled again in college sports. I don't really do numbers, but this was a team that was favored to win tonight.”
It shouldn't have been. Stephen F. Austin was simply better, period. The Lumberjacks were quicker across the board. They beat WVU to spots. They drew fouls through their quickness. They broke the Mountaineer pressure with it. They got to loose balls because of it.
Most of all, though, the Lumberjacks used it to turn West Virginia over, rather than the expected reverse scenario. In short, they out-“Press” Virginia-ed “Press” Virginia. It was the ultimate nightmare on Atlantic Ave for the No. 3 seed.
And what's stunning is West Virginia took Stephen F. Austin lightly. Not only that, they admitted it afterward _ numerous times.
“My hat's off to Stephen F. Austin,” said Mountaineer forward Devin Williams. “They did what they were supposed to do. Their play showed how focused and prepared they were, and we just didn't take it serious. That's what happens in this tournament when you don't take people serious.”
Allow that to sink in a minute. WVU, which feeds on a lack of respect, was not taking a team seriously? Really?
“It hurts,” said fellow forward Esa Ahmad. “We thought we could take it all the way, but just like Dev said, we didn't take it serious _ and that's what happens.”
Stunning. This Mountaineer team wasn't loaded with NBA prospects. It probably had none. It prided itself on hard work. To take any team lightly was crazy.
A tough lesson. And, from WVU's perspective, it was a damn shame.
Analytics showed the Mountaineers put together the finest regular season in the 107-year school history. Then, Friday night, it watched that go down the drain while the gnats, known as Stephen F. Austin, circled even afterward.
SFA's Trey Pinkney danced to his team's fans near the game's end. And why not? At that time, West Virginia's players had quit. The Lumberjacks didn't only have the game in hand, they were showing off with lob dunks and jab-step treys.
The only reason WVU stayed in the game at all was because of free throws. Then that hand too went cold.
Consider Stephen F. Austin, a member of the 32nd rated conference (of 34), won by 14 while shooting 30.9 percent from the floor. It forced 22 turnovers and committed just 7. Really the only resemblance to the team formerly known as “Press” Virginia was its 48-33 rebounding edge.
Credit SFA. Absolutely. It was smaller, but it was quicker. It was better at handling the ball and passing. Thomas Walkup took but four shots in the first half, but ended up with 33 points. (“He was the best player on the court,” said SFA coach Brad Underwood.)
West Virginia, meanwhile, looked flat-footed and slow. The body language was terrible. And on this night future Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins was simply outcoached. In fact, he contributed to the fall with a horrible technical when the Mountaineers were moving in for a layup.
At least, though, he took responsibility.
“They've worked so hard to make a run at this deal, and I feel bad for them,” Huggins said. “I feel bad I didn't do a good enough job getting them ready to go.”
“When you don't prepare the right way, not individually, but as a team, if you're not dialed in as a team, that's what happens,” Williams said. “That's pretty much it.”
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Ahmad said. “They just wanted it more. We were late on rotations. They wanted every 50-50 ball. They just wanted it more.”
Again, stunning. WVU was in a great situation as a No. 3 seed. Teams like Michigan State had lost, clearing some of the path. Yet the Mountaineer team, made up of pitbulls, wasn't hungry enough? Tough to comprehend.
Huggins, by the way, was asked to rank this loss.
“You realize I've had about 300 of them,” he said. “I can't think about that right now. I don't like any of them, to be honest with you. I didn't like one of them.”
Friday's loss, though, has to be at the top of the list, at least while he's been at WVU. His team admittedly took SFA lightly. Players said they weren't as hungry as the opponent. The Mountaineers melted down against a 14th seed and, at the end, flat quit.
That's not a Huggins team. That wasn't the team WVU fans saw all year. The loss spoiled what was a terrific regular season.
Which, for West Virginia anyway, is a real shame.