To review:

-No Brandon Watkins
-Sprained thumb for Devin Williams, followed by foul trouble
-10 for 36 / 2 for 15 shooting for people not named Staten, Browne or Connor
-Outrebounded
-More turnovers committed than created
-Third time in four games shooting below 40 percent
-Fourth straight game — and eighth straight half — opponent shot better than 50 percent
-Outscored 21-6 at the free-throw line and 23-8 in fastbreak points
-Thirteen players play, one scores in double figures
-Five opponents score in double figures
-One opponent doesn’t miss a shot, another doesn’t miss a 3-point shot

Hard to win that way, especially on the road, where WVU isn’t the Big Bad it was presented to be earlier this season, and especially in Ames, where opponents have lost 21 straight and 14 in a row in Big 12 play.

Put simply, WVU wasn’t anywhere near good enough to end those streaks and redirect its season.

“I think we’re down,” said Williams, who hyperextended the same thumb a few more times in the game, finished 1 for 4 for four points and found foul trouble his team could not deal with early in the second half. “I think our spirits are really down in the locker room.”

The Mountaineers, who entered the game tied with Iowa State in the standings, shot below 40 percent for the third time in four games and, more alarmingly, let a fourth straight opponent shoot better than 50 percent. Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas State and Iowa State shot at least 54.9 percent in all eight halves and combined to shoot 57.3 percent overall.

In his first 265 games as WVU’s head coach, Bob Huggins had seen only 39 opponents shoot at least 50 percent.

“Our deal is to do it defensively,” WVU guard Gary Browne said. “We’re definitely struggling a little bit defensively. The only way we’re good defensively is forcing turnovers, stealing the ball and rebounding the ball. If we don’t do those things, we don’t win the games.