You are looking live inside United Spirit Arena, where WVU will tango with Texas Tech in just a little bit and where the Red Raiders will enjoy a home court advantage and a sizable edge in headbands. That’s Deaflympics bronze medalist Luke Adams at the foul line and Shooter! Dusty Hannahs at the 3-point line. Seriously, Hannahs is the maybe the only guy who is much of a threat from the arch.

The Mountaineers have an esteemed fraternity of headbandits: Kevin Jones, John Flowers, Dan Jennings, Devin Ebanks … I could go on  to D’or Fischer, Chaz Briggs, Drew Schifino … but they haven’t had a member these past two seasons. And these past two seasons have been unkind. I sincerely doubt this is a coincidence.

The Red Raiders will need all the power of the headbands absent a student a section and whatever energy was expended and lost as they rallied from down 15 points in the second half Saturday and lost 73-62 here against Iowa State.

There are no motorcycles in the gym this season, either. That’s a shame…

Then again, perhaps WVU has lost some GQ mojo. Eron Harris has ditched the neon green socks.

That shot did not go in, by the way.

And since you can’t wait for the update, no, there is no sign of Jonathan Holton, nor was there any sort of news delivered from the NCAA to the Mountaineers today. I’m going to create a hashtag for this saga.

Example: WVU could use some help inside against a Texas Tech team that pounds it down low and pushes for paint touches. #NoHolton

Or …

The Mountaineers pass the eyeball test standing next to these Red Raiders. #NoHolton

Seriously, WVU has to play big inside. Texas Tech has scored 543 of its 1,029 points in the paint this season. That’s 38.8 points per game, and that would be a school record. The Red Raiders don’t shoot or make 3-pointers — they get 18.3 percent of their points from outside, the 10th lowest percentage among power conference teams — because they shoot 53.3 percent from 2-point range and get 61.4 percent of their scoring there — the fifth highest total in the country.

Forwards Jaye Crockett (14.1 points per game) and Jordan Tolbert (12.5) are both 6-foot-7 and are both shooting 60 percent from the floor. Seven-footer Dejan Kravic can be a handful now that he’s healthy. He’s been fit the past five games and averaged 9.8 points and 6.4 rebounds, and the guy whose tip-in knocked WVU out of the Big 12 Tournament last season has shot 19-for-38 along the way.

Kravic’s nationality? Canadian, of course.

Let’s blog, eh?