By Danielle Daniels
WEST VIRGINIA-OHIO STATE GAME NOTES
https://wvusports.com/documents/2023/12/27/WVU-Ohio_State_Notes_12-27-23.pdf
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia concludes the non-conference portion of its regular season schedule on Saturday night when it faces 10-2 Ohio State at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
It’s the second time these two schools have met in Cleveland, the prior instance coming in 2019 when 22nd-ranked West Virginia outlasted the second-ranked Buckeyes 67-59.
It will be the 18th meeting between these two schools since 1940 with Ohio State claiming a narrow 9-8 advantage, although West Virginia has won eight of the last nine games.
Ohio State’s last victory against West Virginia came in Columbus on Nov. 28, 1995, when the Buckeyes defeated the Mountaineers 77-68.
In the 2008 game played in Columbus, WVU routed the Buckeyes 76-48 – the 28-point margin being the biggest Ohio State has ever endured against a non-conference opponent.
This year, the Buckeyes show victories over 17th-ranked Alabama (92-81), Minnesota (84-74), UCLA (67-60) and New Orleans (78-36) and losses to 15th-ranked Texas A&M (73-66) and Penn State (83-80).
Ohio State has four starters averaging double figures led by 6-foot-2 guard Bruce Thornton’s 17.4 points-per-game average. Jamison Battle, a 6-foot-7 forward, is averaging 14.1 points per game while Roddy Gale Jr., a 6-foot-4 guard, is scoring at a 13.8 points-per-game clip.
Zed Key, a 6-foot-8 forward, is averaging 10.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Evan Mahaffey, a 6-foot-6 guard, rounds out the Buckeye’s starting lineup with averages of 3.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per outing.
West Virginia, now 5-7 following last Saturday’s 91-81 victory over Toledo, is expected to counter with a three-guard lineup that includes 6-foot-5 senior guard RaeQuan Battle, the reigning Big 12 player of the week after scoring 29 points in the Toledo win.
Battle has scored 29 points in both games he’s played this year after a U.S. District Court judge’s decision to postpone the NCAA waiver process until the end of the season.
That decision also opened the door for Noah Farrakhan to also see action. The senior is averaging 14.3 points in the three games he’s played so far and will be joined in the backcourt by Arizona transfer Kerr Kriisa, who missed the first nine games of the season due to an NCAA suspension.
WVU’s front court is expected to be 6-foot-9 senior Quinn Slazinski and 6-foot-10 senior Akok Akok.
West Virginia is averaging 67.8 points per game while allowing 68.8 points per game.
Saturday’s game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FOX (Jason Benetti and Jim Jackson). Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi will be begin at 6 p.m. on stations throughout Wet Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
WVU begins Big 12 play at third-ranked Houston next Saturday, Jan. 6.
COURTESY WEST VIRGINIA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
