West Virginia Basketball: RaeQuan Battle, Kerr Kriisa shine as Mountaineers beat Toledo

West Virginia defeats Toledo 91-81. The new additions of RaeQuan Battle and Kerr Kriisa are making a visible impact. Just how good can the Mountaineers be remains to be determined.

In his second outing for the Mountaineers, RaeQuan Battle matched the scoring total he put up on Wednesday night against Radford with 29 points. In his third game as a Mountaineer, Kerr Kriisa posted his first double-double of the season. West Virginia defeated by a score of 91-81.

RaeQuan Battle

29 points | 9-15 FG | 2-3 3PT | 9-10 FT | 4 steals

Kerr Kriisa

12 points | 3-6 3PT | 10 assists | 2 turnovers 

The struggling Mountaineer team collects their fifth win of the season with the victory over Toledo. West Virginia got off to a great start as they built an 18-point lead just 7 minutes into the game. Toledo would not go away quietly as they fought back and made it a competitive game down the stretch in the second half. 

This performance for West Virginia is clearly their best offensive showing of the season. 91 points is a season-high for the Mountaineers, their previous high being 79 last weekend in the loss against UMass. Despite not having Jesse Edwards’ contribution for the next month (injury), the WVU team is clearly finding a rhythm due to their new additions. 

Having Battle, Kriisa, and Eastern Michigan transfer Noah Farrakhan all debut in the last week is a breath of fresh air for this program. Farrakhan has scored 16, 15, and 12 points in his first three outings. How WVU will fair in Big 12 play remains to be seen, but the reinforcements give them a chance that they simply wouldn’t have had prior. Not having Edwards on the floor presents clear challenges for this team on defense. Giving up 81 points to Toledo is not indicitive of this WVU basketball program.

West Virginia will have one more game before the opening of Big 12 play. Saturday, December 30th, the Mountaineers will be on the road at Ohio State for a 7 PM ET tip-off.