MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bob Huggins thinks his young West Virginia University men's basketball team is better than its 0-4 record in Big 12 play might indicate.
 
A play here, a stop there or a better bounce of the basketball and the Mountaineers could have a couple more wins.
 
"Texas Tech, we're a stop or a basket or a call away from winning the game," he explained Monday. "We go to Kansas State and we're up 21 and we should win the game. We're at Texas and they make a fall-away 3 or we have a great chance to win that game. The game, I guess, we were the most out of was the Oklahoma State game, but we really weren't out of that game."
 
West Virginia (8-8, 0-4) had Oklahoma State's double-digit halftime lead down to two with 11:59 to go in the game following two Beetle Bolden free throws.
 
But the Mountaineers couldn't get over the hump.
 
"We miss two layups, threw the ball away and we didn't guard the guys we needed to guard," Huggins said. "Just breakdowns. We played all young kids basically."
 
At one time in the first half Huggins had four freshmen on the floor at the same time, and he also didn't play veterans Esa Ahmad and Wesley Harris. Huggins said both were "very good" in practice on Sunday.
 
West Virginia will try and get a mark in the win column on Tuesday night at TCU. The Horned Frogs are coming off a stinging loss at Oklahoma, their 12^thstraight in Norman since joining the Big 12 and the 48^thstraight road loss to a ranked team.
 
TCU (12-3, 1-2) had a 71-69 lead before freshman guard RJ Nembhard turned the ball over with 52 seconds left, leading to a Christian James layup and free throw when Alex Robinson fouled him. Nembhard, starting in place of injured starting point guard Jaylen Fisher, missed a layup on TCU's next possession and the Sooners expanded their margin to four.
 
The loss spoiled a season-high 30 points from emerging sophomore forward Kouat Noi, a 6-foot-7-inch, 205-pounder from Newcastle, Australia. Noi leads the Horned Frogs in scoring with an average of 14.3 points per game.
 
Desmond Bane (13.9 ppg.), Robinson (13.5 ppg.) and JD Miller (10.8 ppg.) are also averaging double digits.
 
Fisher, averaging 12.1 points in nine games this season, is not expected to suit up Tuesday night, according to TCU coach Jamie Dixon, who stated Monday he does not expect to see Fisher play in the "foreseeable future."
 
"He's really good," Huggins said of Fisher. "They've got a lot of guys that can make shots. You substitute Bane for him. They've played without him for quite a while now."
 
Huggins calls Noi one of the "better jump shooters" in the Big 12. He's shooting 50.8 percent from the floor including 42.1 percent from 3.
 
With Robinson's ability to get into the lane and pitch it to open wing shooters that should present another major challenge for a West Virginia defense that has been unable to stop dribble-drive penetration.
 
"Robinson is the key. Robinson gets the ball to those guys," Huggins said.
 
So, how does West Virginia slow down Robinson, Noi and Bane on the perimeter?
 
"You can't close out on the side of people," Huggins explained. "I don't think there is anybody in the country who does more close-outs than we do. At some point in time it comes down to, 'I'm going to stop my man.' The thing about it is it's never the same guy. Everybody has taken a turn."
 
Oklahoma State's ability to cover the perimeter with jump shooters gave WVU great fits last Saturday. "Oklahoma State puts you in that position because they surround you with guys that can make shots. Tell me who you help off of?" Huggins said.
 
The Mountaineers will be facing that same predicament on Tuesday night.
 
"Yeah, they shoot it pretty good," Huggins said.
 
Tuesday night's game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU (Jon Sciambi, Fran Fraschilla and Kris Budden).
 
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's statewide radio coverage begins at 6 p.m.


 
Pregame Notes: Huggins said Monday that he isn't sure if forward Sagaba Konate will be on the trip to Fort Worth or not, "I kind of assumed he was going to make them all, but that depends on how he feels" … Junior guard Beetle Bolden is coming off a career-high 31 points in the loss to Oklahoma State … He scored 22 of the Mountaineers' final 25 points against the Cowboys … Freshman forward Derek Culver continues to post impressive numbers in Konate's absence … He scored 15 and grabbed 15 rebounds against Oklahoma State and is averaging a team-best 15.3 points and 11 rebounds in four Big 12 games so far this season … Huggins said Monday Culver needs to be more aggressive looking to score when he gets the ball in the paint instead of kicking it out to an open shooter … The two areas West Virginia has struggled of late – free throw shooting and turnovers – were considerably better against Oklahoma State … The Mountaineers hit 79.2 percent of their 24 free throw attempts against the Cowboys and only turned the ball over six times – 10 fewer than their season average … Oklahoma State shot 47.1 percent from 3, continuing a trend in conference play that has seen West Virginia get out-goaled from behind the arc by its opponents … Foes are shooting 35.1 percent from 3 while the Mountaineers are converting their triples at just a 28.4-percent rate in Big 12 play so far, "The easiest shots to make are step-in shots, and we give people too many step-in shots," Huggins said. "Is it because we over-help? I don't think so. You look at seven or eight of the shots that they made and we were there. We just let them shoot it with our hands down. The immortal Billy Hahn used to say 'hands down, man down'"… Huggins used his 11^thdifferent starting lineup last Saturday against Oklahoma State with Bolden, Jermaine Haley, Chase Harler, Lamont West and Logan Routt getting the nod … Routt has started nine games this year, but is only averaging 9.4 minutes per game … Despite much improved ball handling against Oklahoma State, West Virginia still has a minus assist-to-turnover ratio (211 to 246) … Harler (22 to eight), Jordan McCabe (22 to 14) and Bolden (37 to 34) are the only regulars with more assists than turnovers … West Virginia is 12-1 all-time against TCU with its only loss in the series coming last year in Fort Worth, 82-73.