Damn. That’s no pinata, but that’s a good way to describe West Virginia’s press.

So is the rest of this story, one with a background tale and some deep statistics that combine to explain why the Mountaineers do what they do and why they are so successful at it.

“We tell our guys to take the ball out of the hands of the playmakers and let the guys who are not used to making plays make those guys handle the ball,” Harrison says.

Figuring out a pattern to when they’re going to trap, however, is almost impossible. They vary the kind of pressure to throw teams off. Sometimes they play full-court man-to-man. Sometimes they’ll employ a zone press.

The end result is most teams get sped up and don’t run their typical sets. The average possession for West Virginia opponents this season is 14.7 seconds, the shortest in the NCAA, according to kenpom.com.

“They do a great job of keeping you from running offense,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said.

The turnovers have led to so many easy baskets that West Virginia is a competent offensive team, despite poor shooting.

The poor shooting is why Huggins wants to make sure his team gets more shots than his opponent.

It makes sense for a roster that oozes athleticism and quickness but isn’t overly skilled. Point guard Juwan Staten is the only top-50 recruit, according to Rivals.com, coming out of high school.