MORGANTOWN - Da'Sean Butler felt pretty good after his performance in West Virginia's 98-78 exhibition win over Mountain State Saturday. Or at least he did for about 10 minutes.

And why not? He exploded for 38 points, had a double-double with 11 rebounds and but for a few problems at the free-throw line had his best game since well before he started shaving.

"I think I might have had that many in sixth grade,'' Butler said of his points, which came on 11-of-21 shooting, including four 3-pointers, and 12-of-19 free throws. "Every shot felt good.''

But then he was brought back to earth by a small dose of reality when someone asked if he was afraid he may have peaked in a game that doesn't matter.

"Well, now that you say it, yeah, I do worry,'' the junior forward said. "I hope I still have it later in the season.''

So does Bob Huggins, who had no problem at all with one of his players accounting for nearly 40 percent of his team's points.

"I hope so,'' the Mountaineer coach said. "I hope he gets 38 every game.''

In a game that was eerily similar to the one the teams played a year ago, West Virginia jumped out big, let the Cougars hang around and cut the deficit to just 10 points in the second half and then fairly cruised to the lopsided win. In addition to Butler's 38, senior guard Alex Ruoff added 18 points, freshman Kevin Jones scored 14 and sophomore John Flowers pitched in 10.

The performance wasn't without its flaws. Facing a smaller team that wasn't afraid to throw up shots from almost anywhere, the Mountaineers did not have the kind of defensive effort Huggins would have liked. Had that been isolated, perhaps it would not have been alarming. But Huggins was also disappointed with the way his team played defense a week ago in a scrimmage at Virginia.

"We're not going to score 90-some points against everyone we play,'' Ruoff said. "[Our defense] is not anywhere close to what it was last year.''

And that, given that many of the Mountaineers have had a year in Huggins' system, is a bit surprising.

"It's not like last year when we didn't know what we were doing. It's just a matter of doing it,'' Butler said. "The first five minutes everything was OK and then we just crashed. I don't know what it was.''

Perhaps, though, it was nothing more than circumstances. Those first five minutes produced a 20-2 West Virginia lead and it's human nature to let up.

Huggins doesn't want to hear about human nature, though.

"I told them last year and we talked about it this year, too. When you get up 20-3 or whatever it was, that's when you put your foot on their throat and keep them down,'' Huggins said. "We should try to get them down 40-6. We just made it harder.''

Aside from Butler, perhaps the most impressive performances were from Jones and Flowers, both off the bench. Jones, a 6-8 freshman, made 6-of-9 shots, both his 3-point attempts and had seven rebounds to go along with his 14 points. Flowers had seven rebounds to go with his 10 points and both players had four offensive boards.

Ruoff, meanwhile, started off hot by hitting his first two shots, both 3s, but then missed six of his last seven 3-pointers.

"I just couldn't hit a shot,'' Ruoff said.

Freshman Devin Ebanks was in the starting five - along with Butler, Ruoff, Wellington Smith and Joe Mazzulla - but suffered through a 1-for-7 shooting game. He did have three blocks, three steals and six rebounds, but after scoring on a three-point play the first time he touched the ball, he was scoreless.

Mazzulla was also off his game, scoring just one point and suffering five turnovers to almost negate his six assists. He was also knocked out the game for a while late in the first half when he took an elbow to the head that gushed blood. He got a few stitches and returned in the second half.

"I thought I had a hole in my head,'' Mazzulla said, talking about when he looked down and saw all the blood pooled on the floor. "But I got back [into the locker room] and looked at it and it was just a little hole.''

The Mountaineers begin their season for real next Saturday, playing host to Elon in a 7 p.m. game at the Coliseum.

Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.