WVU Basketball

5 Things to Know Before WVU vs. Toledo

Published

4 months ago

December 23, 2023

Kelsie LeRose / WVSN

West Virginia hosts Toledo on Saturday afternoon in the final game before the Christmas break. Let’s take a look at five things to know before the game.

Meet the Opponent: Toledo

Toledo travels to Morgantown 6-5 as they most recently lost to Vermont by 26 points. The Rockets have six mid-major wins over quality programs. West Virginia is their only Power-6 opponent throughout the entire season.

Toledo HC Tod Kowalczyk is in his 14th season with the Rockets, leading them to six MAC Regular Season titles during his tenure.

The Rockets are led by a trio of guards Dante Maddox (15.1 ppg), Ra’Hiem Moss (15.1 ppg) and Tyler Cochran (12.4 ppg). Toledo averages 78.7 points per game as a team but has a similar average on points allowed.

Game Could Tell How Season Will Go

West Virginia enters the game at 4-7 with a couple of bad home losses. The Mountaineers recently returned Kerr Kriisa, Noah Farrakhan and RaeQuan Battle back to the floor but lost Jesse Edwards for about four weeks with a fractured right wrist. The only way WVU can even attempt to salvage their season is by finishing out strong in non-conference play first. WVU needs to gain momentum by beating Toledo and Ohio State back-to-back heading into Big 12 play.

If not, things could get ugly in conference play as the Big 12 is once again a top basketball league.

Johnson Inactive vs. Radford

WVU G Kobe Johnson was inactive vs. Radford on Wednesday night. It’s unknown exactly what Johnson did but WVU interim HC Josh Eilert made it known it was a coach’s decision.

“That’s between me and Kobe,” Eilert said postgame. “It’s a coach’s decision.”

Eilert did not go into further detail as to why Johnson didn’t play against the Highlanders. Johnson is averaging 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists through 10 games.