West Virginia never trailed in beating Iowa State 76-61 and kept the Cyclones at a more than double-digit distance for much of the game in the convincing win.

The Mountaineers outrebounded the Cyclones 46-28 and were able to shoot at a 50-percent clip from the floor to record its twelfth win in as many tries inside the Coliseum.

That would lead many to believe that Bob Huggins would be satisfied with the effort of his team, right?

Well, think again.

“I’m having a hard time finding anything really positive to come out of this other than we won,” the veteran head coach said.

And there’s some legitimate reasons why somebody looking at the big picture over the rest of the reason could find concerns from the otherwise strong performance. The Mountaineers continued to struggle in two departments especially with turnovers at 19 and at the free throw line.

Those two areas are directly related to not being ready to play according to Huggins, which says a lot about just how talented this Mountaineers team can be if they’re able to put things together.

“This group is generally really pulling for each other and enthusiastic, no emotion today,” he said.

The 19 turnovers are a deviation from the positive trajectory that the club had shown of late and a concerning issue considering it has been one of the primary problems with this group. Over the previous four games that total was down to 11 miscues per game and were limiting issues in live ball situations.

It won’t get you beat at home against Iowa State, but it certainly will against the better teams in the league, many of which still lie ahead on the schedule. Perhaps the most discouraging part of what unfolded against the Cyclones is many of them were unforced errors and a lack of efficient passing even in situations where West Virginia had numbers on a fast-break.

“We were headed in a direction that was going to make us a pretty good team and then we come out today and turn it over 19 times. It’s ridiculous,” he said.

The Mountaineers were 12-24 from the free throw line, a number that could have been worse had there not been so many missed opportunities on the front end of one-and-one’s according to Huggins. Free throw shooting has been another ongoing concern for this ball club and those matter in March.

“How in the hell do you go 50-percent from the three throw line?” Huggins asked.

The message is one that was directed more toward what lies ahead then what unfolded on the court, although Huggins clearly was bothered by how his team seemingly started going through the motions after building a big lead in the second half. It didn’t hurt them Wednesday, but closing teams out, especially in vulnerable situations, is a skill that all young teams must learn.

There is certainly some gamesmanship with Huggins remarks but it has a foothold in the truth if this team wants to truly realize its potential when the games really matter. They can’t afford to take extended period of time off and focus must be at the forefront.

“We’ve got to clean some things up,” senior guard Chase Harler said.

Exactly what you want to hear at this stage of the season and what Huggins was trying to convey. Because the strength of this team is in their effort and numbers.

It must remain that way.

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