The Big 12 standings are goofy. Oklahoma State is 0-5 and in last place, but that team’s tough. Oklahoma looked like the worst team before Saturday, and indeed is the lowest Big 12 team in the RPI, but the Sooners beat Texas Tech Saturday. Texas is supposed to be ruined for the season, and by the sounds of it won’t have Tevin Mack back at all, but the Longhorns look like they’ll give people trouble at some point.

Heck, they already are. There was a three-game slide early on, and the losses were by 19, 14 and 11 points. Since then, the seven losses are by three, three, five, three, nine, three and two. No. 10 West Virginia, able to make some plays and avoid some others, was fortunate to win, but don’t overlook this: The Mountaineers were also good enough to win.

The Longhorns (7-10, 1-4 Big 12), who were picked third behind No. 2 Kansas and WVU in the Big 12 coaches’ preseason poll, led for 19 minutes, 22 seconds and had a seven-point lead in the first half and a six-point lead in the second half.

The Mountaineers (15-2, 4-1) had Jevon Carter, and the junior point guard scored 10 of his 17 points in the final 4:30.

“It’s about time he started doing that,” said teammate Tarik Phillip, who scored 12 points, the most he’s had in conference play. “We’ve been waiting for him to do it. He’s a very capable shot-maker and a great free-throw shooter as well.”

Nate Adrian played just 20 minutes and only six in the first half because of foul trouble, but he still finished with eight points and six rebounds. Adrian, who was also playing through an illness, had a basket and two free throws down the stretch, and the free throws came with 37.9 seconds to go after he fought for a critical offensive rebound.

“In some ways, maybe it was a blessing he got in foul trouble and I didn’t play him all that much until the end, because he’s not playing with a full tank,” Huggins said. “He was pretty sick.”

Leading scorer Esa Ahmad finished 0 for 2 and had four points and five turnovers. Dax Miles, who has the team’s three 20-point games this season, shot 3 for 11 and missed all six of his 3-point attempts. The Mountaineers had 15 turnovers and six assists on 24 baskets and could only generate six steals with the press.

“I wouldn’t say this was one of our best weeks,” Carter said. “We could have been better, but we just found a way to do what we had to do.”