File photo WVU’s Treysen Eaglestaff is shown from a game earlier this season.

MORGANTOWN — If someone were to head into the Physics and Astronomy Department at West Virginia University and ask chairperson Maura McLaughlin if the performance by Treysen Eaglestaff on Monday night in the Mountaineers’ 81-56 victory over lowly Mississippi State Valley State really defied the laws of physics, coach Ross Hodge suggested following the game, you might get an answer such as “Who?”

Now, we don’t know if Dr. McLaughlin follows West Virginia basketball, although certainly her lofty academic position doesn’t disqualify her from being an avid supporter of the team, but we suspect that she is far more qualified to discuss the spin rate and angle of the arc in a shot than the strategy behind it.

But when Hodge was asked about why Eaglestaff had erupted for 20 second-half points to finish with a game-high 23 points, his explanation was more out of Werner Von Braun than out of one-time football player Jeff Braun’s playbook.

“He had the perfect blend of letting the game come to him and being aggressive,” Hodge explained.

The two actions involved in his explanation seem to be complete opposites and there is a popular saying that opposites attract. That, research tells, is mostly a myth when it comes to human beings but, according to Google, it is fundamentally true in physics for electric charges and magnetic poles (positive/negative, North/South).

So Hodge’s analysis that he was patient in “letting the game come to him” and aggressive in his execution of plays probably is scientifically correct.

Eaglestaff had come to WVU as a transfer from North Dakota with the reputation of being a scorer but for whatever reason, be it physics, chemistry or psychology, his play had been spotty, just as it was in this game.

Certainly, whatever formula he used in the first half when he scored 3 points was altered at halftime as he scored 20 in the second half.

“At the end of the first half, I threw up a flick shot and (Hodge) was not happy about that,” Eaglestaff said. “I knew I needed to be stronger with the ball, especially in the paint. They’re a Division 1 team, so I can’t just throw it at the rim. Coach Ortega came and said, ‘You can’t do that.’ I knew that. The second half I just played basketball and enjoyed myself.”

Yes, basketball is among the most physically and athletically demanding of games, but it is also an exercise in mental gymnastics, too.

Attitude matters often as much as altitude in the sport.

“I didn’t see a lot of indecision in the second half,” Hodge said. “He was very decisive and very aggressive. He was shooting the right shots and got into the paint and finished with some physicality and authority.”

There was another factor involved in the change in Eaglestaff’s offensive play and it was that Mississippi Valley State changed its basketball strategy and went to a zone defense.

“Against the zone, I was just trying to find that open spot in the middle or to get it down low to DJ or B-Lo or Harlan. That’s how you break the zone usually. I didn’t want to shoot that much because I missed my first two but in my mind it was this next one could be the one.

“I thought about pass first in the zone. I should have been more aggressive and Coach Forte got on me about that, too.”

“He was aggressive, shot the right shots,” Hodge said. “When you look at his complete floor game… he had 8 rebounds from the guard position. Two assists and no turnovers. It was good to see him get going. For the most part, I thought everyone played within themselves.”

It would be the perfect Christmas gift if Eaglestaff has discovered what has bothered him, for it would give the Mountaineers an all-court presence with size who could change things in Big 12 play.

No one knows for sure which of the transfers are of Power 4 conference quality, but they will find out quickly as WVU opens conference play at Top 10 Iowa State.

“We’re definitely stepping into it thinking it’s going to be a dogfight,” Eaglestaff said. “We have a bunch of guys who are immensely bought in. We’ve put the work in. We’re in here 10-12 hours a day on our free time, just because we want to get better. That first Big 12 game, we’re all going to come to the fact that we have to punch first. We have to know it’s not all going to go our way, so we just have to stay together.”