Game No. 2 of preliminary play for the Continental Tire (!) Las Vegas Classic is to be played against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. I kid you not, they’re wearing purple.

7 pm: Looks like Jay Forsythe will be out again with more back issues.

7:02: Same Starting five tonight. I really don’t expect that to change, barring injury, anytime soon.

7:11: Save one possession where the Mountaineers allowed three offensive rebounds and a basket on the fourth shot of the possession, this is a good-enough start … and there is just no energy in here. Deniz banks in (on purpose) a left-handed hook shot on one end and then takes a charge on defense on the other. It’s 7-4 4:18 into this one and Huggins hasn’t angrily yanked anyone.

7:18: Full circle moment for Truck! Pump fakes from 3 and fires a no-look pass two feet to his right and off a stunned Kevin Jones out of bounds. Someone in the crowd yells “Shoot the ball!” I know that voice. That man never yells that at Truck. Never.

7:21: Truck pumps again and drives and has his layup blocked, but Jones, of course, grabs it and lays it in for a 9-8 lead. Truck was lulling everyone to sleep, though. He drops a 3 on the next possession.

7:22: Wasn’t lying about the crowd, though.

Bob Hertzel says: “They’re going to say the students are gone, but they sold this place out lsat night for Lady Antebellum.”

There is no arguing this.

7:23: Speaking of small crowds, WVU has sold around 7,500 tickets to the Orange Bowl. WVU is allotted 17,500 and has to pay the bowl for what it does not sell. In 2007, when WVU sold just shy of 8,000, the school lost $1,012,500, though it got it back when Ken Kendrick donated that very amount the day before the game. Of this 7,500, about 1,400 were sold as part of Tickets for the Troops. Come Friday, WVU is going to begin working with the Orange Bowl to unload tickets to local youth and community groups. The recipients won’t have to pay, but WVU will.

7:27: P.hWilliamson come in, sets his feet twice and makes two 3s to make it 18-10.

7:30: Good lord … P.hWilliamson? That was not supposed to happen. But things happen for a reason? Do I stick with it?

7:32: Maybe! Does his job again and patiently dribbled around a screen and bounces an entry pass inside to Jones, who is just too close to the rim. Layup, 22-13 lead.

7:34: Should be said that on the possession before Williamson set up KJ Tennessee Tech was in transition and Jud Dillard realized Williamson was chasing. Dillard backed out, faked right, dribbled left and eased past Williamson.

7:38: Tech playing a weird zone, almost a 3-2, and it’s giving WVU trouble. Hinds threw one away for a layup and Tech is big enough to rebound out of it.

7:39: Williamson with another sharp pass inside to Jones. Yikes.

7:41: Paul! Dives for a loose ball, smacks it ahead to Truck, who is fouled on a layup. If Truck makes these two free throws, the Paul has accounted for 12 very easy points tonight for a team that doesn’t get a lot of easy points.

7:45: Should have been 14. He gets an open look, the defense hurried over and he wisely flicks the ball inside to Kevin Noreen, who is gets too deep and bounced a back pass to no one. Disgusted, Huggins pulls Noreen and Kilicli for Rutledge and KJ. Tech sets up the 3-2 and Rutledge doesn’t go to the block and instead floats to the elbow, gets Browne in trouble and lets a pass from Browne go out off his hands. Huggins tells Kilicli to go get Rutledge, to laughter.

7:49: Williamson got back cut on back-to-back possessions. Took two good passes, but it happened. That’s the concern, of course, with Williamson. And KJ bailed him out twice with jumpers.

7:51: And Williamson slides in to foul on what turns into a three-point play. Lots of Williamson in that half and, for perhaps that reason, one way or the other, it’s 33-26 at halftime.

8:05: Williamson had two 3s (easy shots for him?), three assists for two easy inside baskets for KJ and one jumper in the spot KJ likes and then that steal-tap ahead to Truck for two free throws. That’s 14 relatively easy points with his name on it. In 11 minutes with Williamson in the game, WVU was plus-5 in scoring. Also, Truck was 2-for-7 in the first half for the second straight game. Kilicli was not himself once again in the first half and went just 1-for-4. Jones has 13 and 8.

8:08: Hinds with the first charge-count-the-basket of the season. I hate that call.

8:13: Tech’s seven-footer, Marquette transfer Liam McMorrow, picked up his third and fourth fouls about 10 seconds apart. He’s on the bench and he had been bothering WVU in the zone.

8:15: Jones just made a fairly fairly incredible, rather ordinary looking play on the baseline. Noreen forced a pass inside and Jones smacked it to control it, dribbled it to gather it under the basket, turned his left shoulder toward the basket with people slapping at him and calmly looped the ball into the basket. Great hands.

8:20: It’s 47-36 and Tennessee Tech hasn’t made a 3 yet. You know one is coming.

8:21: Not that it matters with a crowd like this, but Tennessee Tech is in this game and believes its going to win. They’re calling timeouts and subbing feverishly. They just called a timeout and WVU obliges by playing its “Happy Holidays” video on the scoreboard. I can hear myself typing. I can hear the Tech coach coaching. I’d be OK with 7NA there, just to be disruptive.

8:24: Tech comes out of the timeout in a new zone, but WVU was ready for it and Miles fed Jones for a layup. Well done.

8:26: Miles hasn’t played bad at all tonight. Good defense, often on switches. Good rebounding. Five points … to tie a career high.

8:35: Suddenly 58-40 and Tech has really faded with McMorrow back in the game. Still no 3s for the opponent tonight.

8:41: WVU just gave away two tickets to the Orange Bowl and showed the winning couple on the big screen. It looked like the woman had been hit in the face with a snowball.

8:44: Just not a lot going on here. There  hasn’t been a significant run by either team and Tech got no closer than six points, when WVU promptly, though not emphatically, rallied. It’s a rather ho-him 20-point game and Williamson hasn’t left the bench this half.

8:45: Tech has freed itself up no fewer than 10 times on back cuts.

8:51: Noreen checks his temperature and follows a put-back with a quick 3 he never second-guessed. It went begging.

8:57: Refs eat the whistle  on some rather obvious Tech fouling. Huggins smiles and laughs and it appears the ref apologizes. Huggins calls a substitution timeout and Williamson enters.

8:59: Tech really trying to make that elusive 3. Not. This. Night.

9:01: Tom McCune jacks a 3 with Williamson open in the corner and the crowd gasps. Final score: 72-53. Mercifully.