Everybody’s got a theory or an explanation for No. 13 West Virginia, which I sometimes feel the need to defend. This is a top team. It’s beaten some really good opponents! You’d rather not see them in March.

The title today is probably the best summation and the most difficult to dispute. But the ups are followed by downs, sometimes in the same game, and it’s perplexing.

The Mountaineers feed off their effort and energy, but they sometimes starves themselves. Long season, difficult conference, trying practices, taxing style of play, I get all of that. It’s not easy to sustain, and WVU does have a number of players who are new to either the entire experience or their particular role.

But it’s one thing to lose a 15-point lead at home in the second half against Oklahoma, which hasn’t won any of the five games following its overtime win at WVU. It’s one thing to go up by a dozen and down by 11 at K-State, the one Big 12 team I cannot figure out this season.

Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma State was something else. WVU didn’t lose or face a big lead, but there was a huge switch within the 40 minutes. The Mountaineers were cutting up the Cowboys and their version of a pack-line defense, but then halftime arrived and with it a new M.O.

The Mountaineers, who won at Virginia, which plays perhaps the best pack-line defense in the country, were 10-for-13 from 2-point range and 6-for-13 from 3-point range in the first half. Working to get shots inside and moving the ball to stay out of trouble and get clean shots outside, WVU scored on 19 of 30 possessions in the first half and had 1.5 points per possession.

In the second half, the Mountaineers were 4-for-8 from 2-point range and 6-for-20 from 3-point range. They scored on 12 of 34 possessions and had 0.9 points per possession.

The 33 3-point attempts was a season high and the sixth-highest total in Huggins’ 10 seasons, and it was unusual for a game when WVU’s largest deficit after halftime was the final score.

“It just felt like our guards weren’t into it as much as usual,” forward Elijah Macon said. “Our plan was to drive to the bucket, but I feel like we forced a lot of them and hoped they’d go in or hoped we’d get a rebound. I was kind of confused by some of those plays.”

It’s emblematic. I think it’s fair to say a version of the Mountaineers exist that is menacing and difficult to defeat, and that version can last. WVU can swagger and saunter and overwhelm even good opponents. If or how Bob Huggins gets his roster back to that place for weeks as opposed to days or possessions at a time is one of the great national unknowns for the rest of this season.