MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Confidence is such a fragile thing. When you've got it, average can turn into really good and when you don't have it, really good can be reduced to just average.
 
West Virginia University freshman guard Brandon Knapper is clearly really good.
 
He was really good playing for former Mountaineer Vic Herbert at South Charleston High, and he was really good during the one season he played at Hargrave Academy where he averaged 18 points and handed out 3.1 assists per game.
 
He was also really good last year playing against All-American Jevon Carter each day during practice while recovering from an ACL injury.
 
In fact, Knapper was so good that Carter predicted big things for him this season.
 
"JC told me, 'Knap is going to have a great year for you,'" coach Bob Huggins said after Saturday's 79-71 victory over Oklahoma. "Then he started throwing the ball all over the place and I called JC and said 'remind me never to hire you as an assistant coach!'"
 
Knapper's 19-game stat log heading into last Saturday's game looked like the Dow Jones Industrial Average in December – some up, but mostly down.
 
He had multiple-turnover games in more than half of them, including four miscues in the season-opening loss to Buffalo and a season-high five turnovers in the Florida defeat.
 
It seemed like every time Knapper did something good to earn more playing time, such as when he scored 10 points against Youngstown State, or the 12 he had against Jacksonville State or the 15 he scored against Baylor, he'd follow that up by throwing the ball all over the place.
 
When your point guard has eight more turnovers than assists (38 to 30) for the season it's hard to keep him on the floor for too long.
 
But sometime between last Wednesday night's 25-point loss at Iowa State and the win over Oklahoma, Knapper figured out how to hang on to the ball – at least for one afternoon.
 
Knapper scored a career-high 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting and hit big shot after big shot to give the reeling Mountaineers a much-needed victory, just their second in nine Big 12 games so far this season.
 
His 25 points were four more than he scored in his last eight games, and his performance Saturday surely caught Oklahoma off guard, just like it caught just about everyone associated with West Virginia off guard.
 
"I think we've all been waiting on it," Huggins said. "He did a good job under some difficult circumstances. He got double teamed at the end, and he stepped through the double team like he's supposed to and he played really well.
 
"He doesn't seem to have a confidence problem shooting the ball," Huggins added. "I think it's handling the ball. You throw a guy out there and say 'go run the team' and that's a pretty good responsibility."
 
Yet, when you study Knapper's season log more closely, you get the impression that maybe he's just a young guy who simply needs to play through some of his mistakes … if Huggins can bite his lip and handle it.
 
Knapper scored nine points and handed out five assists in 24 minutes of action in the St. Joe's win, had a season-high seven assists in 27 minutes in the Valpo win and had 12 points in 22 minutes against Jacksonville State.
 
Then came the Oklahoma game when he scored nearly a point-a-minute (25 in 26), hit four-of-six from 3, made a big steal late in the game and only turned the ball over once.
 
"As soon as that first shot went in I felt like every shot was going to go in," Knapper said. "I just had a feeling they weren't going to be able to stop me out there."
 
The Sooners couldn't, but you can bet Texas Tech will do everything it can to slow down Knapper tonight in Lubbock.
 
Put one of those games on tape and it goes directly onto the scouting report.
 
"This game, I'm learning it's more mental than physical," Knapper admitted. "Right now, I'm getting better at the mental part. This is my first year playing and I feel like the experience I'm getting next year it's going to be a lot better."
 
"In hindsight, the kid tore an ACL and that's a tough rehab," Huggins mentioned. "Then he had the (undisclosed preseason physical condition). He's been through a lot physically and maybe we expected too much, but like I told him, 'I don't understand what any of that has to do with throwing the ball to the other team.' When he cleans that up, he's going to be pretty good."
 
Perhaps that happens tonight against the 16^th-ranked Red Raiders.
 
The secret to the 25-point afternoon Knapper had against Oklahoma is being able to repeat it. 
 
And to do so, you've got to have confidence.
 
"My confidence right now is high," Knapper admitted. "The coaches believe in me, and I've just got to believe in myself."
 
Tipoff for tonight's game is 9 p.m. It will be televised nationally on ESPN.