Buffalo lived up to the hype and blustered its way through the game yesterday, though never too brazenly or outside the rules. The game was tense and on a few occasions in both halves seemed headed toward a breaking point, but there were no episodes and there were no technical fouls … which was a surprise, to me at least.

Gary Browne and Jarryn Skeete had a tussle on the sideline near the Buffalo bench in the first half, and Browne told the official, in a matter of speaking, he was tired of Skeete holding him. But that settled quickly, and Browne said he soon shrugged off Skeete’s antics.

Bobby Hurley was furious a handful of times, particularly when Justin Moss jumped into Tarik Phillip’s elbow.

Huggins isolated himself during one timeout and executed a prolonged stare at another official.

Shannon Evans, he of the five technicals during the season, a fact that really interested Daxter Miles the day before, had to deal with Miles and his mouth for a period in the first half.

“He said something, and I just told him I’m from Baltimore. Baltimore’s nothing like another city. He told me where he was from, but I forget,” Miles said.

The Mountaineers would not be dragged into that game within the game, which is not to say they weren’t bothered or inspired by the Bulls and their lips.

“You look at the board, the board says, No. 11 says, that the press Kentucky has is as good as West Virginia has, if not better,” Browne said, loosely quoting Evans’ words. “I didn’t see him breaking our press today.”

Puzzled were we yesterday afternoon when we saw WVU play zone defense and slow down on offense, and we began to weigh the repercussions when Buffalo made a game of it as the Mountaineers downshifted out of character. What seemed especially curious was that Tarik Phillip was in the lineup while theretofore clutch freshmen Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles watched from the bench.

Turns out we weren’t alone in our curiosity.

Q. Tarik’s been in and out of your good graces at times this year.
COACH HUGGINS: I’ve loved Tarik the whole time. Don’t say that now.

Q. How about this? Dax or Jevon or maybe both of them that have been in the game late at that position. What was there reason for Tarik, was it him playing well earlier offensively. Did he have a good game defensively, anything in particular?
COACH HUGGINS: Tarik has the ability to be our best on-the-ball defender. And he’s really long and athletic. And I thought he’d do a better job of rebounding the ball than what the other two guys would have. It wasn’t for him to really to take the shot. It was for the other end. It was for the defensive purposes. And really I kind of thought why didn’t I get him out and get J.C. in to shoot the ball on penetration. And my absent-mindedness probably won the game.

Indeed, as Phillip knuckled up and hit an awkward 3-pointer that clinched WVU’s first-round victory Friday and buried a seven-game postseason losing streak. This was hardly a clinic on late-game execution, and few things went as planned, except the part about the ball going through the hoop.

“Probably the only one who wanted Tarik to shoot it,” Huggins said, “was Tarik.”

He shot not as he’d been taught or as he’d rehearsed, but as the situation allowed. He wasn’t aligned and he faded back from the basket, but he was more concerned with getting the ball out before the buzzer and putting it up so it wouldn’t be blocked again and so that it would at least hit the rim. If he could do all of that, he’d avoid a turnover and a stoppage and give his teammates a chance for another rebound.

“That’s when he makes his shot,” Miles said. “When his feet are turned to the side, that’s when his shot’s on point.”

Up next: Maryland, the No. 4 seed to WVU’s No. 5, at roughly 8:40 p.m. Sunday.

You are looking live at the logo of the most benevolent organization that weaved through the rule book with me this morning and decided we could indeed have our live post on the blog this afternoon. Hip, hip, NCAA!

Back to normalcy …

We joke, but that’s a wonderful anecdote for a useful philosophy. And if West Virginia goes 2-0 here, I’m going to Midvale to find Phil and shake his hand and take his story. But then again, does Phil remember that story? Is he capable of such things? Would our interview be a personal affront to his philosophy?

So many questions.

First things first, though, is the matter of this 5 v. 12 game and whatever jinx is involved.

Brad McElhinny here. I’m the editor of the Daily Mail located in Charleston, WV — and NOT AT AN OFFICIAL NCAA FIRST ROUND SITE.
Sounds like your ol’ pal Mike has gotten the go-ahead to live blog today’s NCAA game featuring WVU vs Buffalo as per normal. But we were worried there for a while, due to some very bureaucratic sounding NCAA language.

I grumped about it over in our editor’s blog. In the meantime, we came up with a backup plan, which was this SET UP BY ME, NOT AT AN OFFICIAL NCAA SITE.

Here’s the backup plan anyway. Think of it as a window into an alternate universe:

We begin at 10 a.m. and I’ve got enough quarters in the meter for an hour. Then I’m off to the arena to get a second opinion on the live post. If you’d like, you can get your questions in now in the chat window. 

There can be no live post for tomorrow’s game, because rules are rules. I’ll open up something for your discussion, but I can’t lead the discussion during the game. To make up for it, we’ll have a live chat at 10 a.m. Come back in the morning for the link.

True story: Friend, mentor, menace Rob Rossi from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is here writing columns for as long and as far was West Virginia goes in this tournament. He’s got a good idea up his sleeve that I won’t spoil for you or for him, but it involved him asking me, “Does Huggins ever use stories about his past as a way to connect with his players?”

!

I told him there’s this fascinating dichotomy about Huggins: He often refers to the highest of times at Cincinnati and WVU and projects the ways of particular players from back in the day onto the ones he has in the present, which is fine given his considerable credentials, but also confusing when he reminds you he does not live with retrospect.

“He’s got this story about a guy and a truck and no rear view mirror he likes to use,” I said, “so I don’t know if you’ll get him to talk about his past.”

We love this story, of course, and there was a buzz here when he dropped it Thursday. I wasn’t at the press conference, but people were so happy to tell me about it when I returned from the WVU locker room. If you’re new to the party or to the blog, if you weren’t around for the 2010 Final Four run or haven’t looked in our rear view mirror here, allow me to introduce you to the background for this inspirational passage from five years ago.

These come from Brovada, and they’re pretty fun. This tournament is about Kentucky and these odds are further proof the Wildcats are the prohibitive favorites — seriously, Las Vegas doesn’t want your money if it’s Big and Blue. But you can still have some fun with the Fighting Caliparis and a) their largest deficit and b) the presidential election!

Kentucky Props

Will Kentucky Win the 2015 NCAA Championship and win all 6 games by 10 or more points?

Yes +500 (5/1)

No -800 (1/8)

Will Kentucky make the Final 4 of the 2015 NCAA Championship?

Yes -300 (1/3)

No +240 (12/5)

Will Kentucky make the Finals of the 2015 NCAA Championship?

Yes -150 (2/3)

No +120 (6/5)

Will Kentucky trail at Halftime of any game during the 2015 NCAA Tournament?

Yes -260 (5/13)

No +200 (2/1)

What will be the highest margin Kentucky trails at any point in a game during the 2015 NCAA Tournament?

Over 5½

Will Kentucky Win the 2015 NCAA Championship and the Democrats win the 2016 Presidential Election?

Yes +200 (2/1)

No -300 (1/3)

Will Kentucky Win the 2015 NCAA Championship and the Republicans win the 2016 Presidential Election?

Yes +500

No -800