MORGANTOWN - Throughout much of Saturday's Big 12 men's basketball battle with Texas Tech, No. 9 WVU was a bit off.
The Mountaineer shooters were struggling.
The whistles weren't going their way.
Also, the balls weren't bouncing their way.
Save, that is, for one man.
From start to finish in an 83-74 double overtime victory, West Virginia big man Elijah Macon was there for the big shot. He was there for the big rebound. And those basketballs were definitely bouncing his way.
On three separate occasions, Macon's shot attempt seemed to stop on the rim - before deciding to fall into, not out of, the cylinder.
"I don't know what was going on," said the junior forward with a smile. "I think I yelled at them and they went in. They were supposed to go in. I was thinking there's no way they're not falling because they felt so good."
His final stat line was impressive: 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, 3 of 4 from the line, 12 rebounds, an assist and only one personal foul in 33 minutes of playing time. That's what you call rock solid, especially when your team appeared close to crumbling.
Macon's effort was exactly what WVU needed after the mind-blowing late-game collapse at Kansas. Had the Mountaineers followed that loss with one in the Coliseum, before a sold-out crowd of 14,150, panic could have set in. A serious tumble in the polls would have been in the offing. Now? West Virginia lost in overtime at Kansas. Can the 21-6 team be penalized much for that?
OK, OK. So, still, yes, the Kansas loss was a kick to the head of the team.
"It was real depressing, to be honest," Macon said. "We went in there with high hopes and played a great game and then let it go at the end. We just have to look forward to playing [the Jayhawks] again in the Big 12 tournament."
Macon helped put the loss in the past right from the jump Saturday. He made a strong post move on Red Raider forward Justin Gray for the game's first two points.
More important, though, was his second half and overtime play.
In one stretch, with WVU holding a slim lead, Macon scored six straight points, first off a flash to the basket, second after a fake pass to Jevon Carter and third via a spin move in the paint.
A ball fake from the elbow and drive?
"That's something I work on in practice," Macon said. "People ask me every day why I do that. Because in a game, they might cheat on the point guard. I saw [Zach] Smith do it and went and laid it in. No one expected me to [fake], which made it even better."
Toward the end of regulation, with WVU's guards struggling at the free-throw line, Macon made tough rebounds, drew two fouls and knocked down three of four from the line.
Also, in the second overtime, there was that man again. He won the jump ball, which resulted in a Carter score. And Las Vegas oddsmakers, I can tell you, wouldn't have made Macon the favorite to win the jump ball.
"I won a few - until we got into the Big 12," Macon said with a smile. "Everybody jumps the same there; everybody has a 40-inch vertical in the Big 12. And if not that, their arms are longer than mine."
Macon then gave WVU a 74-70 lead. He rebounded the ball in OT No. 2. He grabbed the late boards coach Bob Huggins worried had left with Devin Williams.
"He was the difference maker," said Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said of Macon. "We got pounded on the boards [43-30] and he was the lead person in that effort. He's another one of Coach Huggins' guys - just a really hard, aggressive player that fits their mold. We had a lot of respect for him coming into the game and even more now."
Macon's secret? Well, do the names Kodo Sawaki and Taisen Deshimaru mean anything to you?
Fine. Try Phil Jackson, aka the Zen Master.
"I stay in touch with my family and friends before the game and listen to my Zen music," said Macon. "I listen to Japanese Zen music or Chinese, anything that takes me away from what I'm going through before the game. I might be overthinking. Gamedays I don't sleep at all. That's been me since AAU. I'm thinking about whom I'm going against in a game, which school, who I'm going to stop. So I just listen and let it take me away."
On Saturday, it and Macon took the Mountaineers further away from the nightmare that was Kansas.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.