I'm being a bit facetious, because the refs didn't cost us this game. But the technical on Huggins sure didn't help things. The weird thing about it was that for the first time in my memory, the ESPN commentators seemed to go out of their way to point out every time a call didn't go West Virginia's way. It was the like some alternate universe that Spock sported a goatee. So confusing.
In case you didn't get to watch the game. West Virginia was down 39-31 with 17:40 left in the second half. Truck Bryant committed a foul and Huggins screamed out his name. Unfortunately Jingleheimer Joe didn't think he said Truck, and gave Huggins a technical foul. What followed was almost a very ugly situation. The refs refused to go to Huggins and explain why they assessed a technical foul on him. This made Huggins even more mad which made the fans mad. The fans started throwing objects onto the court and I believe we were just seconds away from something truly awful happening.
Mercifully, the referees worked up enough courage to look Huggins in the eyes and explain the situation. If you're a lip reader, you could see coach saying "Truck" to the referee in much the same way one would say something to a person that doesn't speak English. As if saying the word louder will help them understand. But by that point the call was made and it wasn't going to be changed.
Pitt shook off a sloppy start and did what they needed to do to win the game. The call itself didn't change the outcome. I'm not here to call this a conspiracy. But I don't think it's too much to ask of the referees for some consistency. You swallowed the whistle Saturday and today you called a technical foul like Frank Drebin calls strikes before the ball gets to home plate. Just try to live somewhere in between those two extremes, guys. M'kay?