Then look at the flip side. Some of the Mountaineers' best wins this season have come after some of those most aggravating losses.

After the losses to Oklahoma and Notre Dame came that win over Marquette. The terrible performance against Louisville was followed by a win over Syracuse. The mid-season slump against Georgetown and Cincinnati was a precursor to a road win at Providence. Then after a heart-breaking loss at Pitt came back-to-back impressive wins over Rutgers and Seton Hall.

And so here the Mountaineers are again, wondering just what went wrong at Villanova and struggling mightily to correct it in time to salvage their NCAA tournament hopes.

Maybe desire is the key element for this team.

"I've told them all the time, the dog with the bone's always in danger,'' Huggins said right after the Villanova loss. "We were 7-5 [in the Big East] and they came in [5-7] or whatever it was and they wanted it more than we did. We had the bone. We just didn't want the bone bad enough to hang onto it.''

This would be a good time for the Mountaineers to chomp down pretty hard on that bone. Tonight's game with Providence is crucial because after this three of the last four games of the regular season are on the road. West Virginia has already beaten the Friars once in a desperate situation and needs to do so again. Providence has lost four straight and eight of the last nine.

 "They shoot the ball really well from the perimeter and they have guys that can break you down off the dribble,'' Huggins said. "And their big guys hurt us. Their big guys played very well against us.''

To contact staff writer Dave Hickman, use e-mail or call 348-1734.

MORGANTOWN - The way Bob Huggins figures it, a big part of winning basketball games is simply the desire to do so.

Take his West Virginia team, for example. And it's a pretty good example, too.

So far this season, the Mountaineers seem to have played some of their best basketball when their backs were to the wall. More pointedly, some of WVU's worst games came without as much pressure.

Well, the pressure is back on.

The Mountaineers (18-8, 7-6 Big East) face Providence (13-13, 4-10) at 7 p.m. today at the Coliseum in a sold-out game to be televised by Fox Sports Pittsburgh. They do so having just lost with an awful effort Wednesday night at Villanova.

That came on the heels of a two-game winning streak in which West Virginia played about as well as it can play. The Mountaineers were climbing in the Big East standings and making a case for inclusion in the NCAA tournament.

"It seems like every time we kind of get our head above and going in the right direction ...'' Huggins said without finishing the thought.

He didn't have to. The history speaks for itself.

For instance, West Virginia was cruising along at 10-1 when the Mountaineers lost back-to-back games against Oklahoma and Notre Dame. After its most impressive win of the season, a 79-64 pasting of then-No. 10 Marquette, WVU suffered through a never-close defeat at Louisville. After putting together a four-game winning streak, West Virginia lost three of four to Georgetown, Cincinnati and Pitt. Then after back-to-back impressive wins just last week came the 78-56 blowout loss at Villanova.

Then look at the flip side. Some of the Mountaineers' best wins this season have come after some of those most aggravating losses.

After the losses to Oklahoma and Notre Dame came that win over Marquette. The terrible performance against Louisville was followed by a win over Syracuse. The mid-season slump against Georgetown and Cincinnati was a precursor to a road win at Providence. Then after a heart-breaking loss at Pitt came back-to-back impressive wins over Rutgers and Seton Hall.

And so here the Mountaineers are again, wondering just what went wrong at Villanova and struggling mightily to correct it in time to salvage their NCAA tournament hopes.

Maybe desire is the key element for this team.

"I've told them all the time, the dog with the bone's always in danger,'' Huggins said right after the Villanova loss. "We were 7-5 [in the Big East] and they came in [5-7] or whatever it was and they wanted it more than we did. We had the bone. We just didn't want the bone bad enough to hang onto it.''

This would be a good time for the Mountaineers to chomp down pretty hard on that bone. Tonight's game with Providence is crucial because after this three of the last four games of the regular season are on the road. West Virginia has already beaten the Friars once in a desperate situation and needs to do so again. Providence has lost four straight and eight of the last nine.

 "They shoot the ball really well from the perimeter and they have guys that can break you down off the dribble,'' Huggins said. "And their big guys hurt us. Their big guys played very well against us.''

To contact staff writer Dave Hickman, use e-mail or call 348-1734.