MORGANTOWN - When a crowd of 11,895 made its way to the Coliseum on Wednesday night, most undoubtedly expected a big win for No. 7 West Virginia against Oklahoma.
The Sooners, after all, were 7-9. The Mountaineers were 17- to 18-point favorites. OU had lost to Northern Iowa, among others, earlier in the season.
Heck, the more one studied the matchup, the more one understood why Vegas established the large spread. Oklahoma's roster had 11 freshmen and sophomores. No Buddy Hield. No Blake Griffin.
So add it together. A young OU team. One that turned the ball over an average of 14.4 times a game. A vaunted "Press Virginia" defense. Plus, the game was at the Coliseum. It set up as a date for a Mountaineer explosion.
And then turned into a WVU implosion.
Even late in regulation it seemed the Mountaineers, following their 74-72 win at Texas, would come out on top. A headline of "Phew II" was making its way to the top of the game story. Instead, OU proved superior.
We've seen the Mountaineers' formula for success. Wednesday night that wasn't exhibited.
WVU didn't take more shots. The Mountaineers turned the ball over more than the Sooners. The points off turnovers were even at 15. It all led to a stunning defeat, a decision that will reverberate the opposite way of West Virginia's 21-point, 29-turnover effort against then-No. 1 Baylor a week prior.
Which led to but one question. One very simple question.
What. The. Heck. Happened?
And the Mountaineers couldn't come to a consensus.
"We didn't come to play," said Nate Adrian, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting. "There's really not much else to it."
Many in social media, especially via Twitter, pointed to the missed Mountaineer free throws. Those, admittedly, pieced together for a fine villain if you follow WVU. Esa Ahmad missed a pair at 1:14 in overtime. Dax Miles missed one of two at 2:02. And then Jevon Carter failed on two with 7.8 seconds left - setting up Jordan Woodard's game-winning drive.
WVU converted but 18 of 29 (62.1 percent) and 4 of 9 (44.4) in overtime Wednesday.
"Eh, we haven't been making free throws all year," Adrian shrugged. "It's nothing new. It doesn't make it acceptable, but you have to overcome it."
He's correct on both counts. West Virginia was 15-2 heading into the game and now has converted but 64.5 percent in 18 games.
"We shouldn't have been in that situation," Adrian said. "We didn't come to play - and choked."
Any surprises from OU?
"No," he said. "They did what our coaches told us they'd do. We just didn't guard it."
WVU's Bob Huggins gave Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger deserved credit. The young Sooners handled WVU's defense impressively and pounded the ball inside, winning the paint 48-36.
What happened in Kruger's eyes?
"It was a terrific effort," he said. "Our guys fought hard, held their own on the boards and battled against the great pressure West Virginia puts on. And Jordan [Woodard] was outstanding all night long. Good road win against a really, really good West Virginia team."
"It was just gutting it out as a team," Woodard said. "We had to gut it out. After losing so many games we had to collectively get together and stick to the game plan Coach gave us. Coach trusted me with the ball late. I tried to redeem myself after missing the free throw to end regulation. Coach chose to trust me and as a team we had to gut it out."
Yet back to WVU. What. Exactly. Happened?
Again, no consensus.
"Man, I feel like the energy just kind of went down," said Elijah Macon, who had 13 points. "In the overtime we took our foot off the gas and we should have kept going."
It appears the hangover from the Baylor party is still swirling, but Macon said no.
"I wouldn't say it has anything to do with the Baylor game," said the big man. "It's just guys coming ready to play. Have to come ready to play every game, that's all."
WVU's Jevon Carter had the last shot at an answer. He kept his team in the game with 23 points until missing those free throws.
"We didn't guard the ball," he said with head in hands. "We didn't guard down the stretch when we needed to. It's something we definitely need to get better at if we're to win tough games."
Indeed, it takes a lot of stamina and a lot of determination to be "Press Virginia." It takes a maturity to see, yes, Oklahoma was 7-9, but it was also coming off a victory over Texas Tech, which defeated WVU earlier this month.
And on Wednesday, WVU didn't have any of the answers.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.