Last March WVU had a terrible practice before leaving for the Big East Tournament. The Mountaineers went 3-0 in Madison Square Garden and won the games by a total of seven points.

Last week, a sickly bunch of Mountaineers had what Kevin Jones called “two of our worst practices of the year,” and then bowed out in the first game against Marquette.

There’s a lesson to be learned about last season for this season, but WVU doesn’t know quite what that lesson is.

“We hit a buzzer-beater off the backboard against Cincinnati, Notre Dame missed a shot to beat us and we hit another buzzer-beater against Georgetown,” said senior point guard Joe Mazzulla. “Did we really have momentum or did we use that Big East experience to make the NCAA run?

The Mountaineers practice shortly here at the St. Pete Times Forum — it’s a skeleton practice that’s mostly shooting drills and photo opportunities — but the word around the locker room is things have been better.

he Mountaineers (20-11), who are seeded No. 5 in the NCAA East Region, returned to campus last Thursday and had the day off before they were to return to practice the next day.

“You don’t really know what to expect,” Mazzulla said. “We prepared ourselves for an hour-and-a-half film session, the usual when we’re not playing well.”

WVU was instead treated to some shooting and conditioning drills as part of a light and abbreviated workout. Afterward, some broke off to play some games to keep having fun. Others just went somewhere to relax.

Neither is a luxury teams get to enjoy to often this time of year.

“We were all shocked, but obviously happy,” Mazzulla said.