Huggins: 'A Lot of People Wrote This Team Off a Long Time Ago'

For those outside of the program, it felt like West Virginia would need a miracle to make it to the NCAA Tournament after starting Big 12 Conference play 0-5. In reality they didn't need a miracle, they just needed to make their shots at the free throw line to turn their fortunes around.

"Well, we had Baylor beaten. We miss three free throws. We had Oklahoma beaten. We miss two free throws. All we needed was to make one either game, or both games and we would have won," WVU head coach Bob Huggins said Sunday. "We were close enough every game to feel like we could have or would have won."

Instead of being a team that had to live life on the bubble in the final weeks of the regular season, West Virginia could have not only been a lock to make the big dance but could have been in prime position to secure a much better seed.

"We had some other games, Oklahoma State game. K-State we're up 16 or something like that at halftime. The Texas Tech game we roll the ball out of bounds for some reason. I mean, certainly, we're a team capable of winning another five or six games. And if we do that and take care of that business, or even if we just do half of it, look where we are."

At 19-14 (7-11), the Mountaineers earned a No. 9 seed. Had they knocked down their free throws and won those games against K-State, Baylor, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma, they're sitting at 22-9 to end the regular season instead of 18-13. If they hit the shot at the end of the game at Kansas, you're at 23-8 with one of the best wins in the country on your resume.

But none of it happened.

This isn't a game of ifs, or should've/could've beens. A team is as good as its record and for WVU, it indicates a team full of inconsistency. That doesn't mean, though, that this team is incapable or making a run in the NCAA Tournament. They have made several strides in a lot of different areas and are finally starting to understand how to play with one another.

"I think a lot of people wrote this team off a long time ago," said Huggins. "But those people didn't see the transformation in those guys. They're wanting to win. They're playing together. They're looking out more for each other. They just, I thought really came together. The Kansas game in the tournament, just had no energy. But again, that was coming off playing a late game and then playing the best team in the league with no energy. And even at that, we cut the lead I think twice to four points."

West Virginia will have an opportunity wreck some brackets with a potential second round matchup against No. 1 seed Alabama. But first, they must take care of business against No. 8 Maryland in the first round on Thursday in Birmingham. The Mountaineers and Terps are set to tip-off at 12:15 p.m. EST on CBS.

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