BUFFALO, N.Y. - Before Thursday's NCAA first-round game between WVU and Bucknell, Mountaineer guard Teyvon Myers was leading the team down the KeyBank Center hall to stretch.
"It's go time!" he yelled over and over.
And he was correct. It was go time for West Virginia. And stop time. And go time. And stop time.
Over and over it went until the Mountaineers could finally breathe a sigh of relief, taking an 86-80 victory before 17,806 and setting up a second-round matchup against Notre Dame.
Perhaps the best one can say about WVU's performance? It was not that of the Stephen F. Austin game last season, when the Mountaineers were bounced in the first round.
In sum, West Virginia's look on Thursday wasn't pretty. The 13th-seed Bucknell Bison handled the Mountaineer press easily. ("Once we got the rebound and got out in transition," said Bison guard Stephen Brown, "it was easy to beat the press.") Bucknell committed but 15 turnovers against "Press Virginia."
WVU's halfcourt offense again struggled. After shooting 69 percent early and building a 15-point lead, the Mountaineers could only manage to finish at 45.5 percent. There were bad shot-taking decisions and passes. (West Virginia finished with 13 turnovers.)
There were spacing issues for the Mountaineers. There was even on-court discord. When Sagaba Konate began to argue with an official, his teammates had to step in. Finally, Nate Adrian stepped in and yelled at Konate to "stop!"
Yet there was one good WVU decision. There was one very good WVU player. And there was one very clutch WVU player.
Let's go in order. First, Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins saw of what Brown spoke and yanked his defense out of the press.
"Switching to the 1-3-1 kind of helped us a lot and slowed them down a little bit," Adrian said. "It's an effort thing with us. Everybody has to get their heads right and play defense every night."
"We weren't very good today in pressure," Huggins said. "[Adrian] and [Jevon Carter] were pretty good. The rest of the guys weren't."
Second, there was Lamont West. The freshman finished with a stellar line, converting 6 of 7 shots, including 2 of 3 treys, and pitched in a couple rebounds.
Then there was that clutch player: Tarik Phillip. The guard had a very nice first half, going 2 of 3 shooting, including a trey, and had two assists in only four minutes of action.
"I got into foul trouble though," Phillip said. "I was handsy. Coach told me to get my hands outstretched in the beginning."
In the second half, there were no fouls. And, more importantly, Phillip took advantage of drawn fouls. On a Mountaineer team that's struggled mightily at the free throw line - see Kansas game - Phillip proved clutch, nailing 7 of 7, six in crunch time. He kept hitting the back end to extend WVU's lead to extra possessions - crucial since Bucknell began hitting 3-pointers.
"That's what Tarik does," Huggins said. "He went from being a poor free throw shooter to hitting 28, 29 in a row. He puts a tremendous amount of time in. And he's listening better."
"I went back to my previous [practice] routine and it worked," Phillip said. "I just relax in my mind more and it helps."
Converting free throws in crunch time is what senior guards are supposed to do. That's why good guard play is considered a premium in the NCAA event.
"I don't mind shooing them at all," Phillip said.
It had to be refreshing for Huggins to hear.
"Coach has been telling us for the longest time that free throws and turnovers will be the death of us," said the guard. "If we limit those, we have a good chance of winning."
Yep. Even when a team like Bucknell has a strong big man like Nana Foulland. Even when the opposition's 3s begin falling.
"It seemed every time we started to get away from them, they'd hit a 3," Huggins said. "And Nana Foulland is a really good player in any league. He disrupted us offensively."
Now, though, it's again "go time" for the Mountaineers. They'll be playing a former brother from another conference in Notre Dame. The two were once Big East brethren.
"Our press was a B-minus [Thursday]," Phillip said. "It will have to be a lot better than B-minus."
If, that is, WVU doesn't wish to be stopped.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.