Pretty tough talk out of the postgame last night at the Consol Center, where it was made very clear by Bob Huggins that he’s tired of certain habits exhibited by certain players.

WVU managed to find itself in a 12-point hole and then find a way out against a so-so Duquesne team, a group that played pretty hard, but also seemed somewhat satisfied to have built a 12-point lead against a good opponent.

The cumulative contributions of starter Cam Thoroughman, Jonnie West and especially John Flowers were enough to get by for that night. Each was important in a particular area with Flowers making the most noise with his blocked shots late in the close game.

“John was like what we used to be like,” Coach Bob Huggins said. “We used to get to the ball like that. John got to the ball. And the free throw he made was huge.”

Uhoh! Huggins had a different starting lineup for a third straight game. Thoroughman was in the first five for the first time at WVU and played a career-high 34 minutes … including the entire second half. Dalton Pepper also started for the first time, but the leash was short. He played four minutes in each half.

Deniz Kilicli and Dan Jennings weren’t good fits against the Duquesne offense, which liked to run and shoot from the perimeter, but neither was a factor. Kilicli played one offensive possession in the second half and, on a play drawn up for him in a timeout, missed a forced hook shot.

Casey Mitchell struggled again and played one second in the second half. He fouled on what was a three-point play on an inbound play, and not just an inbound play, but “one we worked on for three days,” Huggins said.

“At this point in the season, I’m looking for guys that won’t screw the game up,” Huggins said. “We’ve got a bunch of them that screw it up bad.”

Positives: WVU hadn’t trailed by as much this season, but got the lead back slowly and seemed to realize it was going to take time.

As bad as the first half was — and it was awful … just a litany of errors — the Mountaineers made their first four shots of the second half and started 7-for-10. They did this without an assist from Red Panda.

And Truck Bryant, who struggled mightily in the first 20 minutes and was reminded on the bench by Huggins of the admitted “no-show” against Minnesota, was far better after halftime and had 10 of his 12 points, including two 3-pointers.

Vital week of practice for the Mountaineers, who play a good Cleveland State at home Saturday and then begin Big East play Dec. 29. Lots of time to find guys who get to the ball and don’t screw it up.