You are looking live at Chase Connor in his sleek warmup before tonight’s game. I dig it, and I dig this matchup. It’s No. 15 WVU against No. 21 Oklahoma. This will be the 16th consecutive conference game to feature at least one ranked team. That’s hard to do.

So is this: The Sooners have started the same five players all season. Last season, they were one of seven teams in the nation to do it. Buddy Hield (the Big 12’s leading scorer), Isaiah Cousins (the Big 12’s leading 3-point shooter), Jordan Woodard (season-high 17 points, career-high five steals in Saturday’s win at Oklahoma State) and Ryan Spangler (reigning Big 12 player of the week) have all started the past 54 games. New to the lineup this Houston transfer TaShawn Thomas, who has started all 117 games in his career.

That’s remarkable continuity, and they’re productive. Each has at least three 20-point games in their careers. I’ll not go as overboard as the last time these two played, but this is a pretty tough team when it’s on, and it’s typically on when at home.

And to underscore the consistency in lineups, consider the Mountaineers will be without a starter due to illness for the second time in conference play alone. Elijah Macon will start for Devin Williams (no my fault!) because Williams has been sick this week. He’ll go if he can, uh, stomach it. He’s not with the team for warmups 15 minutes before tip, though he was out earlier.

One more pre-game note: Bob Huggins can move into a tie for 12th place on the list of the NCAA’s all-time winningest coaches. He’d be 759-305, and that would be good enough to tie Ed Diddle, who was a treat. When the Western Kentucky coach retired in 1964, he was the winnigest coach in NCAA history. E.A Diddle Arena opened in 1963, meaning Diddle coached his final season in the place named for him. He frequented home games for the rest of his years and was pretty visible and interactive.

The story goes that during a home win against Dayton in 1968, Diddle got on top of a courtside table to cheer with the students. An out-of-town sportswriter, who had no idea who the cheerleader was, told Diddle to get down. Diddle did not and replied instead, “This is my damn gym.”

Ballgame.

Let’s jump …