Saturday, December 23
Morgantown, W.Va.
1 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Toledo
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU to Meet Toledo in Final Nonconference Home Game on Saturday
December 22, 2023 11:15 AM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia returns to action Saturday afternoon to face Toledo in a nonconference men's basketball game at the WVU Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (4-7) are looking to get back into the win column against a Rockets team also hunting for a win.
Toledo (6-5) is coming off an 86-60 home loss to Vermont on Wednesday night in a game the Catamounts controlled throughout. Vermont shot a sizzling 54.1% from the floor, including 10-of-27 from 3-point distance, in its 26-point victory.
Toledo recently had a three-game winning streak that included an 88-87 victory over Marshall the prior Wednesday.
"It's been an awfully long time since we've had our tails whipped and humbled like we did tonight," Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said afterward.
Indeed, it has. The Rockets won 27 games and finished first in the Mid-American Conference last season and put together a three-year stretch of success that rivals what any team has done in MAC history.
Two years ago, the Rockets won 26 games and posted 74 wins over a three-year period under Kowalczyk, who shows a 258-169 record there in 13 years and a 394-281 overall mark in 21 seasons.
This year, Toledo has four players averaging double figures on a team that is averaging 78.7 points per game. Ra'Heim Moss, a 6-foot-4 guard from Springfield, Ohio, and Dante Maddox Jr., a 6-foot-2 guard from Chicago Heights, Illinois, pace the Rockets with identical 15.1 points-per-game averages.
Maddox is getting more of his from behind the 3-point line (25-of-66), while Moss is shooting an impressive 48.2% from the floor. Until recently, when he scored just four points in the Vermont loss, Moss was Toledo's most consistent player, reaching double figures in all 10 contests, including a season-high 22 in a loss to New Mexico.
Maddox poured in 25 in a loss to George Mason and contributed 23 in the New Mexico game.
Tyler Cochran, a 6-foot-2 guard from Bolingbrook, Illinois, averaging 12.4 points per game, and Javan Simmons, a 6-foot-7 forward from Gahanna, Ohio, averaging 12.3 points per game, are Toledo's other double-digit scorers.
Toledo's six wins have come against Detroit Mercy, Louisiana, Wright State, Oakland, Northern Illinois and Marshall, while its losses have been to New Mexico, UC-Irvine, Indiana State, George Mason and Vermont.
The Rockets check in at No. 149 in this week's NCAA NET rankings.
Meanwhile, West Virginia is looking to rebound from its disappointing 66-65 loss to Radford on Wednesday night at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers had a four-point lead with 1:18 remaining on guard Noah Farrakhan's short jumper, but saw their lead evaporate on a series of misplays, poor shot choices and a missed free throw with nine seconds left.
The deciding score came with 1.5 seconds left on Radford's jumper from the right wing.
"We could have 100% got better shots and when we really share it and make the extra pass and not try and force things, we're a really good team," West Virginia coach Josh Eilert said. "Otherwise, if we're forcing the issue, it goes south. I don't think they're selfish, but I think they're trying to do too much sometimes."
The loss spoiled guard RaeQuan Battle's regular season debut. The Montana State transfer became eligible after a recent U.S. District Court decision suspended the NCAA's transfer waiver process until the end of the season.
Battle scored 29 points on 9-of-22 shooting but was only 1-of-8 from 3-point range. Farrakhan, WVU's other recent transfer-eligible addition, added 16 after scoring 15 in his regular-season debut against Massachusetts last Saturday.
UMass was also Arizona transfer guard Kerr Kriisa's regular season debut.
Center Jesse Edwards injured his wrist against the Minutemen and will be out a minimum of four weeks, according to Eilert.
Against Radford, Eilert used a starting lineup of Battle, Farrakhan and Kriisa at guards, with Akok Akok and Quinn Slazinski at the two forward positions. Slazinski has been WVU's top scorer throughout the season and shows an average of 16.1 points per game.
Saturday's game will tip off at 1 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+ (Andrew Caridi and Warren Baker).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage begins at noon on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tickets are still remaining and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
The Mountaineers (4-7) are looking to get back into the win column against a Rockets team also hunting for a win.
Toledo (6-5) is coming off an 86-60 home loss to Vermont on Wednesday night in a game the Catamounts controlled throughout. Vermont shot a sizzling 54.1% from the floor, including 10-of-27 from 3-point distance, in its 26-point victory.
Toledo recently had a three-game winning streak that included an 88-87 victory over Marshall the prior Wednesday.
"It's been an awfully long time since we've had our tails whipped and humbled like we did tonight," Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said afterward.
Indeed, it has. The Rockets won 27 games and finished first in the Mid-American Conference last season and put together a three-year stretch of success that rivals what any team has done in MAC history.
Two years ago, the Rockets won 26 games and posted 74 wins over a three-year period under Kowalczyk, who shows a 258-169 record there in 13 years and a 394-281 overall mark in 21 seasons.
This year, Toledo has four players averaging double figures on a team that is averaging 78.7 points per game. Ra'Heim Moss, a 6-foot-4 guard from Springfield, Ohio, and Dante Maddox Jr., a 6-foot-2 guard from Chicago Heights, Illinois, pace the Rockets with identical 15.1 points-per-game averages.
Maddox is getting more of his from behind the 3-point line (25-of-66), while Moss is shooting an impressive 48.2% from the floor. Until recently, when he scored just four points in the Vermont loss, Moss was Toledo's most consistent player, reaching double figures in all 10 contests, including a season-high 22 in a loss to New Mexico.
Maddox poured in 25 in a loss to George Mason and contributed 23 in the New Mexico game.
Tyler Cochran, a 6-foot-2 guard from Bolingbrook, Illinois, averaging 12.4 points per game, and Javan Simmons, a 6-foot-7 forward from Gahanna, Ohio, averaging 12.3 points per game, are Toledo's other double-digit scorers.
Toledo's six wins have come against Detroit Mercy, Louisiana, Wright State, Oakland, Northern Illinois and Marshall, while its losses have been to New Mexico, UC-Irvine, Indiana State, George Mason and Vermont.
The Rockets check in at No. 149 in this week's NCAA NET rankings.
Meanwhile, West Virginia is looking to rebound from its disappointing 66-65 loss to Radford on Wednesday night at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers had a four-point lead with 1:18 remaining on guard Noah Farrakhan's short jumper, but saw their lead evaporate on a series of misplays, poor shot choices and a missed free throw with nine seconds left.
The deciding score came with 1.5 seconds left on Radford's jumper from the right wing.
"We could have 100% got better shots and when we really share it and make the extra pass and not try and force things, we're a really good team," West Virginia coach Josh Eilert said. "Otherwise, if we're forcing the issue, it goes south. I don't think they're selfish, but I think they're trying to do too much sometimes."
The loss spoiled guard RaeQuan Battle's regular season debut. The Montana State transfer became eligible after a recent U.S. District Court decision suspended the NCAA's transfer waiver process until the end of the season.
Battle scored 29 points on 9-of-22 shooting but was only 1-of-8 from 3-point range. Farrakhan, WVU's other recent transfer-eligible addition, added 16 after scoring 15 in his regular-season debut against Massachusetts last Saturday.
UMass was also Arizona transfer guard Kerr Kriisa's regular season debut.
Center Jesse Edwards injured his wrist against the Minutemen and will be out a minimum of four weeks, according to Eilert.
Against Radford, Eilert used a starting lineup of Battle, Farrakhan and Kriisa at guards, with Akok Akok and Quinn Slazinski at the two forward positions. Slazinski has been WVU's top scorer throughout the season and shows an average of 16.1 points per game.
Saturday's game will tip off at 1 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+ (Andrew Caridi and Warren Baker).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage begins at noon on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tickets are still remaining and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Players Mentioned
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