With No. 6 Kansas in town, Bob Huggins breaks out a lighter side during frustrating season

MORGANTOWN — A basketball coach pulls into a Burger King …

It sounds like the start of a joke, sort of along the same lines of the hundreds out there about a priest and rabbi walking into a bar.

A portion of Bob Huggins’ time spent with the media Friday brought out another side to the veteran coach, a lighter side, even when it seems the weight of an entire state is on his shoulders.

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“I guess you all heard where I was coming from,” Huggins jokes as he sits down to begin the press conference.

Just seconds earlier, Huggins is heard outside of the media room relaying a story about a near mishap at a drive-through at a nearby Burger King, where a customer was looking at his cell phone rather than pulling up to order.

As Huggins tells the story, he pulled ahead of the driver, who wasn’t happy about being skipped.

“I did make somebody mad,” Huggins said. “He was on his phone about 150 feet from the speaker, so I pulled in front of him and he started flipping me off. I’m in one of those moods today, so I just said ‘Come on.’ ”

No explanation is needed for Huggins’ mood. His Mountaineers (14-11, 3-9 Big 12) are in the midst of one of their worst Big 12 seasons, as the No. 6-ranked Kansas Jayhawks (21-4, 10-2) are set to visit the Coliseum at 8 p.m. Saturday.

It’s not the place Huggins predicted WVU would be in for today’s match-up, as the Mountaineers are desperately looking for something positive after the last 38 days have brought nine losses in 10 games.

Yet, this was not the frustrated, can’t-stand-to-lose Huggins that is often seen on TV, even though you know the tough season has worn deeply on him.

He is just hours away from his 10th annual fish fry, one that has raised millions for the cancer endowment that bears his mother’s name, as well as the Remember the Miners organization.

Kansas coach Bill Self will be in attendance — “Bill is a good guy. He really is a good guy,” Huggins says with a smile. “Bill will find a liquid libation he likes. That’s very well put, wasn’t it?” — and Huggins has his fingers crossed that this year’s event will raise nearly $2 million.

“I sincerely believe that we can raise the money to build a cancer hospital, and we’re going to,” Huggins said. “We need it in this state in the absolute worst way.”

Basketball is still discussed, and the West Virginia coach still has hope to a strong finish to the regular season.

“We’ve had two or three games where a bounce, a call, a turnover (goes the other way), yeah, we could have won the game,” Huggins said. “We haven’t gotten one. Then Taz (Sherman) gets knocked out and they let him lay there seemingly for three days before stopping play.

“It’s been a calamity of errors, not all ours. We’re due. We’re 100% due.”

WVU forward Gabe Osabuohien is expected to be back in the Mountaineers’ rotation. He sat out Monday’s loss against Kansas State after being ejected the previous game for arguing with referees.

Huggins said Osabuohien needs to play better in practice.

“Watching practice (Thursday), he better play a whole lot better,” Huggins said. “Everyone wants Gabe to play. We want him to play. The players want him to play. Gabe’s his own worst enemy. I would think rather than going and fighting the biggest, strongest kid on the block you ought to be able to go take care of yourself. He hasn’t figured that out yet.”

And then there was talk of fate playing a part in an upset bid. This will be Kansas’ 10th visit to the Coliseum, and it’s the 10th time the Jayhawks have been nationally ranked when visiting Morgantown.

Yet, WVU is 6-3 against Kansas at the Coliseum, an arena that has been a sort of house of horrors in year’s past.

“Them having a bad day, us having a good day, it happens,” Huggins said.

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