You are looking live inside the Frank Erwin Center, where the digs for the visitors are not nearly as nice as they are at home. This building, as you know, has not been accommodating for West Virginia through the years. Good and bad teams have lost here, and both have played poor or mediocre basketball.

Oddly enough, though, this is the place that was one of the most unlikely comebacks and wins in the Bob Huggins Era. Remember this? And do you remember that team?

Texas is stumbling into this game and the Mountaineers are the sort of bunch that ordinarily can’t wait to play games — they’re easier than practice — and has to see a chance to keep the momentum moving. The 10th-ranked team is an 11 1/2-point favorite today, and Our Friends in the Desert want $750 from you if you want to make $100 from them. TeamRankings.com gives WVU an 86.1-percent chance of winning –the ninth-easiest remaining game.

Texas is short-handed today, and thanks to injuries, the team was only using eight players in Big 12 play before suspending its leading scorer. All eyes ought to be on the guards. 

Texas handled the WVU press last season. Shaka Smart’s first team had 15 turnovers combined in two games against WVU last season. Both games were wins. Baylor had 16 in the first 20 minutes Tuesday. The Bears lost. It’s pretty much universally accepted WVU is better defensively this season, and Texas no longer has Isaiah Taylor and Javan Felix.  These Longhorns will have four guards today, including two freshmen and the junior college transfer who have never seen the Mountaineers. Smart will impart his wisdom upon them.

Without Mack, the Longhorns have four other guards, and those players all have more assists than turnovers, though the assists only outnumber the turnovers by 33. Smart must school them on what to do and what to avoid.

Smart said he needs his guards to use an aggressive attack to counter and succeed against the aggressive press, but they must also be calm enough to avoid falling victim to WVU’s designs.

“For instance, when you throw the ball into the dead corner, especially on the ball side, West Virginia is terrific at trapping and turning you over,” Smart said. “When you have the ball in the middle of the floor, it’s a little bit more difficult to trap you. When you beat a trap, you’ve got to make sure you have an awareness of who’s coming from behind you.”

Let’s watch the frontcourt, too. WVU’s is developing a rotation or reputation or both there. The Longhorns have one of the league’s best young forwards. Jarrett Allen, a 6-foot-11, 235-pound freshman, has started all 16 games and averages 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. In four Big 12 games, he’s at 12.8 and 10 with two blocks per game, and he shoots 53.8 percent from the floor.

“He’s so agile and bouncy and gets off the floor quick,” Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins said. “He’s long. He’s a terrific shot-blocker. He really runs in transition.”

Allen starts alongside space-eater Shaquille Cleare, who’s 6-foot-8 and 275 pounds. James Banks, a 6-10, 240-pound freshman, comes off the bench. WVU thinks it has a counter. Huggins has used the phrase “three-headed monster” a few times lately — “That three-headed monster has been pretty good.” — to describe the Brandon Watkins-Sagaba Konate-Elijah Macon entity. This is a game for them to meet a challenge and continue to round out the team’s attack.

Let’s take a basketball break, though. Let’s talk about Jake Spavital!