Column - Students should be applauded for effort vs. Pitt

The student section at West Virginia men's basketball game's was abysmal during the first half of the season.

Students were rarely in the upper section – even West VIrginia head coach Bob Huggins had to call out the students.

While the West Virginia men's basketball team has struggled, the students have been just as good as they've been in the last four years.

More than 2,500 students have attended each of the last two home games. To put that in perspective, the student are allotted just 2,000 seats per game.

A season-high 2,590 attended the Cincinnati game earlier this month, and 2,523 attended Monday's Backyard Brawl against Pittsburgh.

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas told WV Illustrated that West Virginia's student section is as good as any in the country.

After Huggins received an undeserved technical foul early in the second half, the student section was the loudest I've ever heard in any athletic venue other than September's football game between West Virginia and LSU.

During Monday's game, the student section stood the entire time and was in unison with its chants all night long.

Students were camped out Sunday night – just hours after the Mountaineers fell to Syracuse in a heartbreaker.

As Monday's game drew closer, more and more students flocked to the Coliseum. Students skipped classes and showed up early to start the creation of a massive line.

By the time the gates opened just an hour and a half before tip-off, the line stretched back to the Mountaineer Tennis Courts.

But, all of this praise for the student section can go away really quickly.

The team is on a slide, one that has lowered them to the bubble for the NCAA tournament, and all four remaining home games are meaningful.

There's no reason students shouldn't be camped out in front of the Coliseum before games for the rest of the year.

Games are more important now – this team is fighting for a position in its seventh NCAA tournament appearance in eight years.

And, creating an intimidating environment has been crucial to the success of the Mountaineers inside the Coliseum.

Monday's loss to Pittsburgh was the first loss inside the Coliseum since Nov. 15, 2011, against Kent State.

West Virginia hasn't lost two straight games at home since head coach Bob Huggins' first year in 2007-08.

Since the 2007-08 season, the Mountaineers are 58-11 at home. They haven't lost more than two games in a year since they lost three in 2008-09.

Creating a loud, raucous environment has also been pivotal when West Virginia faces ranked teams. Huggins is 11-6 when playing ranked teams at home.

The Mountaineers have a good shot to make the NCAA tournament, but they're going to need the students' help along the way.

If the students show up, West Virginia has a really good chance to make the NCAA tournament for the fifth-straight year.