The inexplicably well-dressed WVU coach — Aside: The Mountaineers won … will he keep wearing suits, as is his ritual? — spent much of the first half watching Robert Morris drive to the basket (and miss a lot of layups) and rebound better than its size might have predicted. His two main offensive players were mostly quiet and the offense was a lot of standing around and waiting for something to happen.

A reportedly tame halftime discussion preceded the second half and when the Colonials scored and Truck Bryant took the ball out of the basket and discovered he had no one to pass the ball to, Huggins called timeout. Twenty-four second into the half. Five out. Five in. And up 32-31 against a suddenly game opponent.

Cue the 15-4 run that blew the game open toward the eventual 82-49 outcome.

“I get tired of watching guys not play the right way,” Huggins said. “I’ve got great respect for the game and the way it’s supposed to be played. The 6,334 that showed up deserve a little better.

“I think that’s what it was. Sorry, the 6,443. I hate to short them.”

After drawing 12,707 in the season-opener, a combined 13,833 have shown up the past two home games. The Coliseum seats 14,000 and can accommodate several hundred more, but the crowd for Robert Morris was thin to the point people could be counted in some sections.

“I could have,” Huggins said. “There was a point in the first half where I thought that might be more appealing.”

Bang!

The second team salvaged his day. When he called the timeout, Huggins simply asked for five new players. A bunch stood up and eventually Joe Mazzulla, Cam Thoroughman, Mad Deniz Kilicli, Jonnie West and Dalton Pepper took the floor. Huggins admitted to wondering for a moment how that group would get points, but it worked pretty darn well.

In the 10 possessions together, the second team was 7-for-8 with five assists and two turnovers. Pepper was 1-for-2, West 1-for-1, Mazzulla 2-for-2 with three assists and Kilicli 3-for-3. Thoroughman didn’t score, but had two assists.

“That meant a lot to me,” Bryant said. “Honestly, I’m happy Huggs took us out. The first five wasn’t playing hard, I don’t think, and that’s why I was trying to be aggressive at the beginning of the game. But everyone was walking around at times, including myself, and we couldn’t get it going. I’m happy Huggs put a new five in.”