As I sat down Sautrday to write about WVU’s cookie-cutter win against Seton Hall, I went through the comments from the Pitt loss and the Monday after. Then I got to thinking about how the Pirates had turned their season around only to drop the ball late in the expected comeback against the Mountaineers.

So in a short amount of time — a week for WVU, a game for Seton Hall — the way both teams felt about themselves had changed pretty significantly.

“You’re a jump shot away from losing, a possession away from winning,” said forward Wellington Smith, who continued to impact the Mountaineers with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. “It takes a toll on your body and the mental aspect of it. So many things can happen and they can happen so fast that you have to focus on one thing at a time.”

And now the Mountaineers get the team that’s see-saw’d like no one else this season. UConn once lost six of eight and was sliding without Jim Calhoun. Then Calhoun returned and watched the Huskies lose by 12 at home against Cincinnati. Two days later, they beat Villanova. At Villanova. And they ran up and down the floor with the Wildcats.

Suddenly, it’s a very different, very dangerous team that’s  ready and waiting for the challenge.

“Here we are, maybe a bubble team and just a week ago, you’d have said, ‘What bubble?’”  UConn coach Jim Calhoun said after Saturday’s win at Rutgers. “All of a sudden, if we’re fortunate enough to get a couple of wins, I’d start thinking something else, but right now, I’m just thinking about the XL Center and West Virginia. It’s the only thing I can think about … we’re in too difficult of straits not to think that.”

Considering the circumstances, however, the Huskies are heading into tonight’s game in the best frame of mind possible.

“This is the way we wanted to be going into it. Coming off two wins, we have a lot of confidence right now,” senior Jerome Dyson said “It can definitely do a lot for us and we seem to be playing very good against ranked opponents.”

UConn is 2-3 against top 10 opponents this season, beating Texas and Villanova, while losing to Duke, Kentucky, and Syracuse.

“I’m hoping they have a different kind of confidence,” Calhoun said. “A confidence of knowing what they need to do, regardless of whatever circumstances they are in.”

Open post starts … right now.