West Virginia has lost six of seven Big 12 road games and Bob Huggins seemed to wear it in his voice.

“I really don’t know what to say. I think I’ve said everything there is to say prior,” he said.

The Mountaineers squandered a 10-point first half lead on the road at TCU to fall to the Horned Frogs 67-60 in overtime. The opportunities were certainly there, but Huggins club weren’t prepared to take them as the young club was exposed in many of the same repeated areas.

The Horned Frogs hit 44-percent of their shots after that number being 32-percent in the first meeting and drew even on the glass after being dominated on that front.

That meeting, a 32-point win for West Virginia in Morgantown, seemed like a distant memory as the Mountaineers struggled to get stops on the defense end and put the ball in the basket.

Not an optimal combination.

“This is a game we should have won but I’m tired of saying that. I’m tired of watching it,” Huggins said. “It’s frustrating.”

That frustration was apparent in how the veteran heads coach discussed the failures of his team who has now lost all but one Big 12 road game this year after failing to win any a season ago. Two different teams, obviously, but the inability to close out these games on the road could prove to be significant when it comes to post-season play as the Mountaineers have dropped several lines.

West Virginia now sits at 19-8 on the season and 7-7 in the Big 12 Conference with four regular season games left, starting with a road trip to Texas on essentially a one-day turnaround. The Mountaineers are now 27-games into the season so while they are loaded with youth, now is the time to grow up.

“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and figure things out,” sophomore Derek Culver said.

That they do and quickly at that. But one thing Huggins said hits home is that even with the struggles, the complete story has yet to be written on this team. And things can change quickly in college basketball so there are opportunities to correct the issues down the stretch.

But first things first and that’s identifying solutions to those issues.

“I don’t have any insight; I wish I did. Sometimes we all think we’re a little smarter than what we are because I’ve got no answers right now,” he said. “We’ve got a day to figure it out and try to go win one.”

This team has now lost four of five and has watched itself fall from a projected No. 2 seed in the initial NCAA Bracket preview to likely closer to the four or five line and the tumble could be greater. But the destiny of this season still lies in the hands of the West Virginia players if they want it.

This season could still very much be a special one, but it won’t go anywhere until they find a way to patch up the holes in the ship from the top down.

“It’s not over. That’s the good thing. If there is a silver lining, it’s not over,” Huggins said.

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