If you could make it there Tuesday night, you made it a memorable experience inside the Coliseum. The crowd of 12,096 grew from, say, a third of that at the tip to a full-throated, court-storming sixth man at the end.

WVU led for 33 minutes, 43 seconds and enjoyed a lead as large as 14 points despite — and this, I think, is the hallmark so far of this team — not doing any one thing particularly great. Not handled-No. 1-without-much-drama great. The shooting was just OK, and I might be guilty of morning-after generosity there. The rebounding margin wasn’t massive. The gaps in points off turnovers and second-chance scoring weren’t decisive.

But WVU was better in multiple areas, and in the end that made the critical difference.

And how did the Mountaineers arrive there? Unrelenting activity. They ambushed Kansas at times, and one brief game-turning, crowd-rousing sequence early in the second half sent the game toward the eventual and, at that moment, inevitable outcome.

Devin Williams stole a pass at half court, dribbled three times and dunked. Daxter Miles stole a loose ball on the sideline on the next possession and then, after Jon Holton missed a corner 3-pointer, WVU pressured a Kansas player on the baseline, poked the ball free and Williams passed to Esa Ahmad for a layup.

“Crazy,” Williams said. “That was top-shelf, elite stuff. But it was as a group. It was the five that were out there. We put our foot down and said we were going to protect our home, and we did.”

It was a 13-point lead, one that thinned to four points and rose to 14 with 2:46 go as the Mountaineers beat a No. 1 ranked team for the first time in almost 33 years and made a major statement that they’re coming for the Jayhawks and their 11-year reign atop the conference.

“The game in a nutshell was they were so much more aggressive and quicker and far more athletic than we were,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said.

You’re inclined to agree with both coaches: WVU was first from start to finish and Kansas is a deep and talented team that won’t have too many nights like that. It’s going to be difficult — and increasingly difficult, because you sense this is a start and not a peak — to beat the Mountaineers.

But here’s the trick, or the treat — I can’t decide. The Mountaineers beat No. 1 for the first time in 33 years and get today off but come back to practice Thursday to get ready for a road game at No. 2 Oklahoma, which took Kansas to three overtimes.

Fun!

Bill Self had a warning for both teams.