Seventh-ranked West Virginia went into a crazy environment Saturday, but for the second-consecutive game, the Mountaineers couldn’t make the game itself crazy enough.

Just like it did earlier this month at Texas Tech, and just like it did earlier this week against Oklahoma, West Virginia lost the turnover battle, this time in a 79-75 loss to Kansas State in Manhattan. And while the loss was relatively unsurprising — the Mountaineers were just 3.5-point favorites — it was nonetheless worrying.

Two questions will now haunt Bob Huggins’ team, one that romped through non-conference play, beat a No. 1 team by 21 points, and at one point reached the top of Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted efficiency-based rankings. Can the Mountaineers win without imposing their will on opponents via their famed full-court press? And does the effectiveness of that press depreciate in conference play not only because of the quality of competition, but because of opposing coaches’ growing familiarity with the scheme?

The answers to both are very much up in the air after Saturday’s loss, one in which West Virginia forced 16 turnovers but coughed up a crippling 23. Those 23 included a critical deflected pass with 25 seconds remaining. The Mountaineers had a chance to tie, but didn’t get a shot off. Instead, Barry Brown went the other way for what more or less amounted to a game-sealing slam.

The 16 turnovers forced were a greater output than West Virginia’s two previous conference losses. Texas Tech had only 13 in a game that went to overtime, and Oklahoma was baited into a mere 12. But the press wasn’t as stifling as it often is, and especially not as stifling as it has been in West Virginia’s Big 12 wins. Also worrying were the foul numbers: The Mountaineers committed 30, well above their season average of 20.

All of this leads to a third question: Disregarding the press, how good is this West Virginia team? It forced 19 turnovers in its last win, but still had to come from behind to beat a bad Texas team on the road by two. A large portion of its impressive overall season profile is a result of beatdowns of lesser teams that were unprepared and defeated by the press before they even walked in the gym.

West Virginia’s guards have proven their worth all season, and they did their part against Kansas State. Jevon Carter had 14 points, Daxter Miles Jr. had 11, and Tarik Phillip had 20 off the bench. But they didn’t get much help — not from teammates in their halfcourt offense, and not from their defense. The Mountaineers had just 15 points off turnovers, and scored under a point per possession on the night.

It is time to worry about West Virginia’s legitimacy as a top team, and time to discard any thoughts of a Big 12 regular season title challenge. Huggins’ squad will still give the odd Big 12 team nightmares, just as it did to Baylor two weeks ago. But if the turnovers aren’t there, it’s becoming clear that the team’s consistency won’t be there either.