Numbers can lie. Truck Bryant’s don’t. Since he took over the starting point guard job for good in December, WVU has won more often in spite of him than because of him. Look at his worst performances: Cincinnati, Pitt II, Syracuse, Louisville, South Florida I, Marquette. All losses and a game WVU nearly lost (USF). Of those losses, you could argue they’re all winnable if Bryant is steady and not shaky, even Marquette, when he was scoreless, but so ineffective it caused an early string of trouble on a team that still played close for 35 minutes.

His best? South Florida II, Providence, Pitt I, Georgetown, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Duquesne. All wins and a Pitt game for which he can’t be blamed.

And as WVU was hot and cold the past five weeks, so, too, was Bryant. Sunday, though, he was sharp.

“He’s been in a little slump lately, the freshman blues,” said senior Alex Ruoff, who went to nearby Central High and had many of the WVU fans in his corner among the 5,082 inside the Sun Dome. “He’s been playing with a little more confidence lately and he knows how much we need him. Coach expressed how much we need him to be successful this year. We’re good when he’s good.”

Bryant had 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting and added two assists and a steal without a turnover. He had eight of the team’s first 13 points.

Is be back? I don’t know and I’m not going to put one game against a bad team up as proof that he is. That said, boy, timing is everything. He played really smart, didn’t force anything and took his shots at the right times. If the Mountaineers are to do anything of significance, they need him to play 28-30 minutes. More is better.

He doesn’t need to be a scorer for WVU to win, though that helps. His worth is not measured most accurately in handling pressure or getting to the basket, either. He just has to be out there, which hasn’t happened enough lately and has affected the Mountaineers more than most people realize.

Able to play shooting guard with Bryant able to stay in the game, Ruoff recovered and needed all of 4:23 to score eight points, help WVU build a 12-point lead and send USF into a timeout.

“I really like coming off screens and getting the ball in a scoring position,” Ruoff said. “That’s really tough for a point guard to do. They get a lot of their points off creating their own shots. Plus, you get real tired bringing the ball up the floor with another point guard pressuring you.”