Once upon a time, I covered teams that were involved in postseason play and I really, really liked covering postseason basketball. The pep bands, the crowds, the arenas, the high-level of performance and competition, it was all there and it was all you could handle.

For my money, there was no commonly occurring event quite like a three-point play. Buzzer-beaters and overtime games and the like were unique and extenuating events, but three-point plays trumped long 3-pointers and alley oops and other obvious One Shining Moment moments.

For every three-point play, there’s a clearly definable space, a moment that’s both empty and filled with emotion and potential, between the whistle signalling the foul and the reaction that flows freely when the ball goes through the hoop. It’s wonderful.

In more ordinary environments, like regular season games on the fourth Saturday of January, they’re less dramatic. Good luck telling West Virginia they’re not demoralizing, though. 

The Mountaineers were dunked on three times in Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma State. They saw Phil Forte make just one of his nine 3-point attempts, but it was a doozie off an offensive rebound after WVU did its nob on the first wave of defense, but once more could not rebound when it mattered. They witnessed Stevie Clark make two 3s in an active performance off the bench for a guy who’s not supposed to leave a mark from deep.

And WVU very nearly survived all of that. What the Mountaineers, who were purposefully physical in other parts of the game, had neither an answer nor an explanation for, were the eight baskets they let Oklahoma State score while committing a foul and the six three-point plays that proved so critical.

In the end, the Mountaineers knew they’d been out of position and late to the action when they fouled, but they also knew what it meant.

Had WVU simply fouled the shooter eight times and not let him score, the most the Cowboys could have scored was 16 points. WVU instead complicated matters by allowing eight baskets – the equivalent of the 16 free throws – and then committing fouls that let Oklahoma add six more points at the free throw line.

The final margin? Six points and WVU’s sixth loss by nine points or fewer. The Mountaineers play at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Baylor (13-6, 1-5).

“We definitely need to foul harder,” said Staten, who was checked into the basket support and left with no chance to score on one foul by Oklahoma State’s Kamari Murphy. “If we’re going to foul, there’s no sense in fouling and giving them an easy bucket. If you’re going to take that foul, it needs to be a good one and you need to be sure the shot doesn’t get up on the basket.”