MORGANTOWN - On Monday night, it was like Mississippi Valley State was in a different Coliseum.
The way, that is, they were fed to the lions.
Following Friday night's tongue lashing by WVU coach Bob Huggins, his Mountaineers went after the visiting Delta Devils from the get-go.
Huggins criticized their "Press Virginia" effort, especially that from the veterans, a few days prior - and received the response for which he was looking. At least for a half.
"First half, yes," Huggins said. "In four halves, we've played one so far. Trying to be positive."
On State's very first possession, a guard was pressured back to under his own basket and threw it away to West Virginia's Tarik Phillip. He promptly laid it in.
A Delta Devil inbounds pass to Vacha Vaughn was errant.
And away we went.
When Elijah Macon stole a pass at 17:58 of the first, it was the visitors' fourth turnover - in just over two minutes of action.
One had to feel for MVS coach Andre Payne. He called two timeouts by 15:33 of the first half.
Didn't help. Waves of WVU players checked in. All tore at the jerseys of the Delta Devils. By halftime there were 18 turnovers. The score was 64-28.
Payne couldn't even look forward to a second half in which Huggins would play his reserves. They were already playing. Thirteen Mountaineers played by halftime. Walk-on Logan Routt, the pride of Cameron, saw time in the second half.
Dax Miles, recovering from the flu, had to hate missing the fun.
And WVU's players most certainly had fun. They knew they had the visitors outclassed - as one would expect.
The only team Mississippi Valley State could find as an exhibition warm-up was Tougaloo College. Not even Google can locate Tougaloo College.
Also, the Delta Devils were picked to finish seventh of the 10-team Southwestern Athletic Conference by the coaches and sports information directors. At game's end, there were 26 State turnovers. The Mountaineers took 83 shots and won 107-66 before a crowd of 7,807.
So, yes, a good time was had by all - in the gold and blue. There was Phillip showing off with a 24-foot trey. We finally saw Maciej Bender's feathery touch as he hit his first 3-pointer.
Aside from the expected effective press, that's what Huggins has to be most happy about. Bender relaxed and gave Mountaineer fans a glimpse of his potential.
Fellow freshman Chase Harler, who had a rough first outing, flashed a little somethin' somethin' with a steal and sweet outlet that ended in a Sagaba Konate dunk.
James "Beetle" Bolden was again handling the ball well from the point guard position and, almost as important, showing he's a 3-point threat. ("I hit 48 to 50 percent in high school," Bolden said.) And, for the second straight game, big men Konate and Lamont West were more than effective.
That's all Huggins can hope from playing these teams. Try to calm the newcomers' nerves. Get a better idea which of them can be in the rotation when there's a quality opponent.
"About three right now," Huggins cracked.
"The rotation could be 12, 14," countered forward Nate Adrian. "As long as guys come in and produce, they'll play."
"What's going to happen is the rotation is going to shorten," Huggins said. "This is a wonderful opportunity to show what you can do. And they are."
Brandon Watkins said another benefit to Monday's game was MVS played a zone defense, which is what future opponents will surely employ.
Anyway, a surprisingly decent team might be visiting WVU this coming Sunday. New Hampshire, picked to finish second to Vermont in the America East Conference, upset Temple 57-52 on Monday in Philly to move to 2-0.
"Hope it wakes people up," Watkins said.
"We need to play someone good," Adrian said. "When you don't it doesn't help you."
The bottom line, though, is Huggins is building something here. He's building confidence. He's building a team that can go 10-deep. He's building a contender for this season and the next couple. At a timeout with 3:01 left Monday, he was still getting on the players in a huddle.
It should be fun for Mountaineer fans to follow.
And not so fun for opponents at this Coliseum.