The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

“None.”

It started during the player introductions and you can hear some of the jeers steered his way as Eron Harris was Public Enemy No. 10 Wednesday night. (Aside: Music! Iowa State, you’re better than that!) I think the noise affected him, and possibly only inspired him, though perhaps to a detriment in the first half. Asked afterward what impact the crowd had, he said “None,” and stared ahead and waited for the next question.

I’m telling you, he’s unrelenting.

And so, too, is that Iowa State offense. West Virginia’s defense is a mess right now, and has been for a few weeks, save one exception against the Cyclones. But WVU has to go punch for punch with these teams and that’s difficult when Terry Henderson is home with an undisclosed illness for an unspecified period of time. When the opponent is Iowa State, at home, the Mountaineers have to play much, much better than they did and just can’t miss repeated open shots and wave a red cape at driving defenders.

Nothing new there, much as there was nothing really new about last night’s 83-66 loss. But that’s three straight losses, each by double figures, each when shooting at or below 40 percent, each when allowing the opponent to shoot better than 50 percent.

I’m on the road and in the air and then on the road again today, but Scoop & Score goes on as planned. Stephen Nesbitt and Geoff Coyle joined me yesterday for a taped edition that previews spring football at WVU. Some above average questions and many compelling and pointed answers can be found live at 9 a.m. I’ll post the podcast later. (Give me a break on the audio … we streamed calls from four locations. And I was in a Fairfield Inn. Not ideal!).