The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board

So said Deniz Kilicli Wednesday night, and then, likely following the advice one offered by his mother, Kilicli opted to say nothing at all. He finished a response to one question in the postgame interview, tensed up, listened to another question, stammered through a reply and slowly stood up and walked away.

This is not to say “I told you so,” because I didn’t, but I find it hard to believe you could have watched the past two games and not seen a different, more distant Kilicli. It struck me against Kansas and I pointed it out in the live posts Saturday and then when we saw it again against Oklahoma.

He put it to good use against the Sooners, taking whatever edge he had for whatever reasons and applying it in the post, but for naught.

The frustration that came from falling behind by double figures for the 15 time in 30 games and the 1-14 record in those games finally won. Tired, unable to sleep or eat, admittedly “not healthy,” Kilicli was no longer able to keep it inside.

“When you did that big of a hole, you can’t make any mistakes, OK?” Kilicli said. “You’ve got to play perfect after that. We try to do that every game. Nobody’s perfect. When you mess up one play, that costs us the whole game, know what I mean? I’m tired of this. I’m tired of getting 12, 15 down and trying to get back up again, because it’s hard to do.”

You are looking live at something I haven’t quite seen before. We’re inside the Lloyd Noble Center, stage for not one, but two Amy Grant live albums.

Ah, Norman. I will remember you.

And do you remember this? WVU was 0-3 against Villanova in the 1998-99 season. That’s the last time the Mountaineers lost to a team three times in the same season.

Oklahoma is 2-0 against WVU this season and has the decided advantage tonight, not just because the Sooners are 10 games above .500 after 28 games and 10-6 in the Big 12 Conference where WVU is 6-10.

No, it’s because Oklahoma scores points. WVU does not. This is vital in the Big 12 Conference, which plays offense a little better than the Big East, which had better defenses than the Big 12.

WVU’s new conference has six of the top 90 scoring offenses in the nation, including Oklahoma, which averages 71 points per game and is actually scoring better in conference play than non-conference play.

WVU averaged 71.1 points per game last season, but is shooting so poorly that the scoring is down 4.5 points per game. Consider this after Terry Henderson’s 20 points Saturday.

It was Henderson’s third 20-point game of the season, which is a nice number for a true freshman who missed games and was then limited because of a back bruise.

It was also the seventh time a WVU player has scored 20 points in a game this season. Not this calendar year. Not in Big 12 games. In all the games played in the 2012-13 season.

“We’re the type of team that doesn’t have that standout superstar you can throw the ball to to get a bucket,” Henderson said.

Here I am, on the road again. Turn the page …