MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Fourteenth-ranked West Virginia hits the reboot button on its basketball season Saturday afternoon when it takes on Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas.
 
COVID-19 protocols have required the Mountaineers to pause their season following a Jan. 9 loss to Texas at the WVU Coliseum.
 
West Virginia's three ensuing games against Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State were postponed in accordance with the Big 12's game interruption guidelines.
 
"I've never had a situation like this," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We were at a point where we were patting our guys on the back saying our guys have done such a terrific job. But look at what's going on around the country. It sneaks up on you. It will get you without you trying to get it. All of this 'don't go in crowded rooms …' our guys haven't done that and still we end up in bad shape. 
 
"Contact tracing has a lot to do with a lot of things," Huggins added. "I wouldn't think it would affect football near as much as it does us just because of the numbers. We've got to figure it out. That's what we're supposed to do is figure it out."
 
Huggins admits his team's game conditioning will be right near the top of the list of his concerns on Saturday. 
 
Dealing with the youthful but talented Wildcats will be another major concern.
 
Huggins believes the freshman group veteran coach Bruce Weber has assembled at Kansas State this year is among the best he's seen since he's been in the Big 12.
 
Freshman backup point guard Nijel Pack is giving K-State 10.7 points per game off the bench, while freshman small forward Selton Miguel and 7-foot freshman center Davion Bradford have earned spots in the starting lineup.
 
Miguel is averaging 8.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while Bradford shows averages of 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
 
"Obviously, you play that many freshmen you are going to make some mistakes, but they're talented," Huggins said.
 
Senior guard Mike McGuirl is a familiar name to Mountaineer fans. He's averaging a team-best 11.7 points per game while making a squad-best 33 3-pointers. Sophomore guard DaJuan Gordon is K-State's other double-digit point producer at a 10.7-points-per-game clip.
 
Gordon led K-State with 13 points in its most recent loss at Oklahoma earlier this week.
 
Kansas State has managed to play six Big 12 games so far this year with its only postponement coming against Iowa State on Jan. 13.
 
The Wildcats (5-10, 1-5) won at Ames on Dec. 15 and added a pair of wins against Jacksonville and Omaha before hitting a tough stretch in January that has seen them lose five in a row to TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas and Oklahoma.
 
The last three defeats have been by double-digit margins. 
 
Still, Huggins has his concerns.
 
"They've got size; they've got length and athleticism," he said. "I think that all plays into how Bruce (Weber) wants to play the game and what a great job they do in half-court defense."
 
West Virginia (9-4, 2-3) has had two weeks to think about its 72-70 loss to Texas when the Mountaineers were unable to hold on to a five-point lead with a minute to play. Some missed free throws down the stretch allowed the Longhorns to get a game-winning 3 from Andrew Jones with 1.8 seconds left.
 
Senior guard Taz Sherman led West Virginia with 17 points coming off the bench, while forward Derek Culver produced his 23^rd career double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds.
 
Guard Sean McNeil also contributed 14 points while sophomore guard Miles McBride added 12.
 
McBride is the team's leading scorer with an average of 15.1 points per game and is also tops on the team with a plus/minus rating of +94.
 
Culver is giving the Mountaineers 13.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and is now 199 points shy of reaching 1,000 for his career. He is also only 25 rebound shy of cracking the school's top 20 in that category. 
 
Presently occupying that position is center Bob Benfield (1965-67) with 690.
 
McNeil is averaging 10.1 points per game and has scored most of his points in bunches, reaching double figures in less than half of WVU's 13 games so far this season.
 
The remainder of Saturday's tentative starting five consists of 6-foot-7 junior forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. and 6-foot-7 freshman forward Jalen Bridges.
 
Matthews has started West Virginia's last 55 games dating back to his freshman season, while Bridges earned his first career start at Oklahoma and responded with a season-high 19 points.
 
He's been in the starting lineup for the last two games against Oklahoma State and Texas.
 
"We've got to play 40 minutes, but at the same time so do they," Huggins said. "You can't play 35 or 32, you've got to play 40. 
 
Saturday's game will tip off at 4 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (Anish Shroff and Chris Spatola).
 
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday will get underway at 3 p.m.
 
West Virginia holds an 11-8 advantage in series play, including winning 10 of the last 14 meetings. Last year, the two teams split with West Virginia winning in Morgantown and K-State winning in Manhattan.