MORGANTOWN — To be sure, Honor Huff had already fielded about a dozen phone calls from potential coaches once he entered the transfer portal nearly a year ago now.

For a young man who had knocked down 240 3-pointers over his last two seasons, including a nation-leading 131 at Chattanooga last season, that’s sort of to be expected.

“I asked every coach who called me what do they need to see me do to get better from the first day of camp,” Huff said, after he scored 24 points on Friday to lead West Virginia to a 77-62 victory in the regular-season finale against UCF inside Hope Coliseum.

When Huff asked that question of then newly-hired Ross Hodge, he got the unexpected.

“It was funny, because the first thing (Hodge) said is I need you to shoot deeper,” Huff said with a smile.

Huff did plenty of that this season. Now with 106 3-pointers at WVU, the 5-foot-9 guard put on another shooting display against the Knights (20-10, 9-9 Big 12), who just may have been knocked back firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble with the loss.

Huff took Hodge’s response as a greater sense of confidence that he would have the ultimate green light at WVU. He does, indeed, have that. Huff will enter next week’s Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo. with 300 3-point attempts on the season. That, by far, is the single-season record at WVU.

“I still get surprised when he misses,” Hodge said. “When he has a good look, I’m honestly surprised when it doesn’t go in.”

Yet, Hodge’s explanation in his answer to Huff’s inquiry wasn’t 100% about handing out a green light.

“I meant he would probably have to step back to shoot over greater length,” Hodge said, probably only half joking.

In any sense, the Mountaineers (18-13, 9-9) secured a first-round bye in the Big 12 tournament, the second consecutive season WVU has accomplished that with a first-year head coach at the helm. WVU also swept the season series against UCF, which it has now beaten in four straight tries.

The Mountaineers will either be the No. 7 or No. 8 seed next week, depending on what happens Saturday in the TCU-Cincinnati game. WVU will be the seventh seed if TCU wins. It will be the eighth seed if Cincinnati wins.

Regardless, the Big 12 tournament begins with first-round games on Tuesday. WVU will play on Wednesday.

“Hey, anytime you want to go after a championship, you want to play the least amount of days as possible,” Hodge said about earning the bye.

As for Friday’s win, Huff and WVU’s offense was good from the start, a turnaround from recent weeks. Huff’s first 3-pointer came from the corner, right in front of UCF’s bench. He turned and gave the Knights a quick look and his traditional 3-point hand gesture.

“I started off 0 for 2, and I drove it one time, and I could hear their guys (on the bench) yelling at me,” Huff said. “There were three guys just doing some talking. When I hit it, I just turned around and did it at them. The ref came up to me and coach Hodge was yelling at me.

“I didn’t do it again after that. We got the win, though, so it’s cool.”

It was a much needed win on what was Senior Night for the Mountaineers. Huff, along with teammates Harlan Obioha, Brenen Lorient, Chance Moore, Treysen Eaglestaff and Jasper Floyd were celebrated before the game.

Floyd and Lorient followed Hodge to WVU from North Texas. That duo officially became his first recruits. As Hodge tells the story, Huff was next.

“He was really the first one of the new guys to trust us and jump in,” Hodge said. “He’s grown so much as a player. He’s seen just about every defense you can imagine. He’s been the focal point of every team’s defense we’ve played.”

And Huff still delivered. He had some help from his fellow seniors against UCF, who all combined on this night to score 74 of WVU’s 77 points. The Mountaineers shot 45% for the game and held UCF to just 38% (24 of 63) from the floor. WVU led for all but 26 seconds of the game.

“It’s a special moment,” Huff said. “There’s not a better feeling than what you do after a win here and singing (Take Me Home Country Roads) and being able to evoke yourself with emotion in a positive way.

“I can’t thank coach Hodge enough and his staff for allowing me to display my talents even further on the highest stage. I’m just thankful to be in this situation.”