Bob Huggins is traveling to Texas today. We’ve no reason to think otherwise. He was famously brief in updating his status Thursday on the Big 12 coaches’ teleconference, but I’d imagine he’s mostly tired of talking about it, too. The 63-year-old in his 10th season in charge of West Virginia in turn explained what an active defibrillator meant. “It doesn’t necessarily mean there’s something wrong. It’s precautionary. It’s why they put it in there.”

So he’s packing the black pullover — two, I guess, since this is a two-game trip — and aiming for the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament. That might go down to the final day of the season, though the Mountaineers are going to get some help Saturday. They’re tied with No. 9 Baylor and still-unranked Iowa State. The Bears play at Hilton tomorrow.

Speaking of precautionary, Huggins isn’t trekking without some apprehension.

Esa Ahmad’s back balked Monday night, and he did not play. Big men and back problems can be troublesome, and the Mountaineers are going to play this close. Huggins certainly sounded resigned to the possibility Ahmad wouldn’t make the trip, and that means two more DNPs for the sophomore … who frankly needs positive results right about now. But if Ahmad does make the trip, that’s not really a guarantee, either.

The Mountaineers had Tuesday and Wednesday off and practiced Thursday. Huggins said Ahmad received treatment on his back on both off days, and whether Ahmad travels or plays depends on how his back responds to Thursday and Friday practices and the travel to TCU.

“We’ve sat around here and talked about it as a staff, and it’s something you don’t want to linger,” Huggins said. “I think we all worry about sitting on a plane for three hours, and we get to Fort Worth and play a game and get on a bus and ride a bus, whatever it is, three hours, three-and-a-half hours.

“If he’s not 100 percent and ready to go, I don’t know that we’re doing him or the team any justice. It kind of depends on what the medical staff says and how he feels.”

Let me stop here to Huggins has a roster thing to worry about seemingly every year, and doesn’t it always happen near or within the postseason? Here’s what we know about Huggins: You better practice if you want to play, and if you miss time, you don’t automatically get your spot back when you return.

This is not law, though. Juwan Staten and Gary Browne reclaimed their starting spots in 2015, because imagine the alternative. Jon Holton relinquished his last season and Dax Miles has this season.

Ahmad has been a starter. All 61 games he’s played, in fact. Has he produced like one? Sure, but not consistently. He’s scored in single digits in eight of 14 Big 12 games. Miles, who missed the first three games this season, came off the bench for three and then started 17 in a row before missing one game and coming off the bench for three, started in his place.

It did not work out very well for Miles.

We can be certain Adrian, Jevon Carter and Elijah Macon will start, and Tarik Phillip has started the past five games, so he seems set, too. Do you start a returning Ahmad? Do you go with Miles again? Do you give Lamont West the honor?

Each idea has its merit. Starting Ahmad means he’s warming up and not sitting down again. It’s also contiguous. Starting Miles gives you someone with the experience and fortifies the bench with West. Starting West gives you someone who can get points at the start of the game and likely help avoid a slow start on the road.

Similarly, if Ahmad isn’t available, do you start Miles or West?

I don’t know what happens without Ahmad, but given Miles’ recent run of play, as well as West’s, I think West might be an option. Honestly, WVU subs so much that cutting into the bench isn’t a big deal. But TCU starts three guards, just like Texas did, and that’s a better spot for Miles.

With Ahmad? That’s interesting, too, mostly because we don’t know if he practices yesterday or if he will today — but he’s had a lot of time off. Still, sometimes it helps someone to step into a game after watching it and getting a feel for it. Maybe that’s a catalyst for Ahmad? Or maybe that’s dangerous, too. Again, interesting. I have to believe if he’s ready, he starts.

In any event, WVU’s depth is useful for this trip, and the Mountaineers, if nothing else, were buoyed by their freshmen Monday.

West wasn’t alone in replacing Ahmad. Freshman Maciej Bender didn’t play in the second half, and he missed all four of his shots in eight minutes in the first half, but he rudely blocked a dunk attempt, grabbed four rebounds and had one assist — plus a pass from up high to a cutting Tarik Phillip that could have been a layup had Phillip not tipped that pass to freshman Sagaba Konate for a dunk.

Konate made all four of his shots in 10 minutes, and he was 3 for 3 and added a few defensive challenges that altered Texas shots at the basket in eight minutes in the first half.

Some combination of West, Bender and Konate were in the game the entire time the Mountaineers turned a 17-10 deficit into a 31-20 lead.

“I thought they were terrific,” Huggins said. “My message to them before the game was, ‘We have to play with energy.’ Somehow we have to find a way to play with energy because we’re not very good when we don’t play with energy.

“I thought the freshmen came in and really gave us a bunch of energy. The press was better. They made plays at the rim. They got the crowd involved. I thought they were really the key to getting a lead at halftime.”