MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sometimes when you stick your fishing pole into the water you come up empty, but when it comes to talking to Bob Huggins that's rarely ever the case. 
 
Earlier today, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Huggins was that informative.
 
It began about 10 minutes into the media's 25-minute session with the coach before this morning's practice. The Dominion Post's always-perceptive Justin Jackson asked Huggins to explain how his team could have just five assists on 22 made shots during Wednesday night's eight-point loss at Texas Tech.
 
"We can't pass," Huggins answered. "One thing you can say about me is I don't lie. I told you the first week we practiced that we can't pass, and I haven't changed my opinion."
 
Then, Huggins dug deep into the right-side pocket of his sweat pants and pulled out a folded sheet of paper with some figures written in pencil.
 
"I probably shouldn't, but I'll give you some very alarming stats," Huggins began. "We were averaging 20 turnovers a game for the longest time … and on top of that uncontested field goals – that's if the guy is 7 or 8 feet off of you – we're 54 for 169. That's 32 percent with nobody guarding you!"
 
He continued.
 
"Catch and shoot, which is you catch it, you step into it and shoot it – not off the bounce – we're 73 for 243 for 30 percent. Uncontested catch-and-shoot shots, we are 22 for 89 for 25 percent. Now you want to know why we've lost four? We can't shoot. We're not making shots," he explained.
 
This is not because Huggins has recruited a roster full of poor shooters but rather because his players are still struggling to pass the basketball to teammates in areas where they can score.
 
For instance, when a post player presents himself with his man pinned behind him and his left hand in the air and the basketball arrives near his feet that's not a good pass. It's nearly impossible to make a shot after said player is forced to become a first baseman trying to dig a ball out of the dirt.
 
It's also not a good pass when a player is standing wide open on the wing and the basketball doesn't arrive until the defender is back on him.
 
It's so much easier to make a shot when you are not being guarded, at least in theory.
 
"A good portion of (these statistics) are a product of bad passing," Huggins said. "If you've got to field it off your ankles, you're probably not going to make it. If you've got to jump to catch it and then come back down and get yourself together again you're probably going to get covered up.

"Great passers make even bad shooters decent shooters because you are now shooting everything from your pocket," he added. "The more movement there is in your shot the more chance for error, so if you are fielding it down here (motioning to the ground) or you're fielding it up here (pointing toward the sky) or over there or back here, there is a huge chance for error."
 
Huggins believes inexperience is the primary reason for these issues, and there is hard data to support this. According to the website KenPom.com, the Mountaineers are the youngest team in the Big 12 in terms of overall experience, averaging just 1.27 years per player.
 
That's also among the least experienced teams playing Power 5 basketball this season.
 
Huggins brought up sophomore point guard Jordan McCabe, who played in high school against players mostly his size.
 
"Now he's trying to figure out how to get it around those guys and not where to hit the guy (with his passes), so experience has a ton to do with this," Huggins noted. "How much better was Truck (Bryant)? How about Wanny (Juwan Staten)? 
 
"Wanny may be one of the better point guards to ever play here, and he sure wasn't his first year. He was horrible. We're playing at the highest level of college basketball, so we're playing against the best athletes."
 
Presently, West Virginia is two spots shy of the top 10 looking at a top 10 full of experienced basketball teams. 
 
In fact, half of this week's top 10 is made up of teams with at least seven upperclassmen on their rosters – No. 4 San Diego State (seven), No. 5 Florida State (nine), No. 6 Louisville (nine), No. 7 Dayton (eight) and No. 10 Seton Hall (nine) - and half with nearly two years of experience in their programs – No. 1 Baylor (1.88), Seton Hall (2.00), Dayton (2.03), San Diego State (2.11) and Louisville (2.24).
 
So to be where West Virginia is right now with an overall roster experience ranked 300^th out of 353 college basketball teams speaks to the enormous potential the Mountaineers possess if this team can remain intact beyond this season.
 
In the meantime, some of the newer guys such as Taz Sherman and Gabe Osabuohien are beginning to emerge. Osabuohien is coming off a season-high 15 points in the Texas Tech loss and has reached double figures in two out of his last four games.
 
Sherman, who has scored 20 points in his last two games, hit a couple of 3s against Texas Tech while scoring a season-high 11 points. Sean McNeil, who was playing in empty junior college gyms just 12 months ago, has had moments this season when his outside shooting made a major difference.
 
If he doesn't hit those 3s against Pitt and Ohio State then West Virginia likely doesn't win those games. Texas Tech's game plan on Wednesday was no different than Missouri's last Saturday, or Kansas State's tomorrow – have all five guys with one foot in the paint helping on West Virginia's bigs daring the Mountaineers to shoot it from the outside.
 
Last Saturday, Missouri's Cuonzo Martin mapped out what West Virginia is going to see for the remainder of the season.
 
"Our focus was on the two big guys," he explained. "You have to limit their production because I think their team goes based on what they bring to the table. You have to send a double and you have to scrape the post."
 
Therefore, can this team shoot it well enough to make defenses honest? More importantly, can it pass the ball well enough to get easy baskets?
 
That's ultimately where the ceiling resides for this year's team.
 
Saturday's rematch with Kansas State will tip off at 2 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (Mark Neely and Tim Welsh). Radio coverage on the Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio begins at 1 p.m.
 
The Wildcats are coming off a 61-53 home victory over Oklahoma on Wednesday night to improve to 9-11, 2-5. K-State's other Big 12 win came against West Virginia in Manhattan back on Jan. 18, 84-68.