Ohio State basketball vs. West Virginia: Odds, preview, prediction, lineups, TV

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State basketball team will face West Virginia to close out the nonconference portion of this season’s schedule.

The game is part of the Legends of Basketball Showcase, which also features two other games. Ohio will face Davidson at 1:30 p.m. followed by Akron vs. St. Bonaventure at 4 p.m. The Buckeyes’ game against the Mountaineers will serve as the prime-time event.

This will be the second time during the Chris Holtmann era that the two programs will play each other on a neutral sit in Cleveland, with WVU winning 67-59 in 2019. Overall, the two have played 16 games against each other, splitting the matchups.

What: Ohio State (10-2, 1-1 Big Ten) at West Virginia (5-7)

The point spread: Ohio State minus-0.5; over-under 141.5.

Where: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio.

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

TV: Fox.

Ohio State projected starters

Bruce Thornton, guard, 18.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.2 apg.

Roddy Gayle Jr., guard, 14.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.5 apg.

Evan Mahaffey, guard, 3.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.1 apg.

Jamison Battle, forward, 13.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.4 apg.

Felix Okpara, center, 6.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.2 bpg.

West Virginia projected starters

Kerr Kriisa, guard, 11.7 pg, 2.0 rpg, 7.7 apg.

Nah Farrakhan, guard, 14.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.3 apg.

RaeQuan Battle, guard, 29.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.5 apg.

Akok Akok, forward, 4.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.6 apg.

Quin Slazinski, forward, 15.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.2 apg.

What to Watch For

RaeQuan Battle has been back for two games and has quickly become the Mountaineers’ top scoring threat. He’s had 29 points in wins against Toledo and Radford while being a three-level scoring threat in the process.

Battle has the capability of scoring from anywhere on the court as he aggressively looks to get up shots. He’s also shot 23 free throws in two games, making 19 of them and showing that he can not only draw whistles but can cash in on those opportunities as well.

Stopping West Virginia starts with slowing him down.

Battle started his career at Washington in 2019, spending two seasons with the Huskies before transferring to Montana State. He applied for a waiver this offseason believing his case fit the NCAA’s “special circumstances” criteria after his second transfer, but it was initially denied. He then filed a federal suit against the NCAA on Dec. 1 with the judge granting a temporary restraining order that’s allowing him to play through the spring.

Prediction

Stephen’s pick: The Buckeyes need to put the proper punctuation on its nonconference schedule. What better way to do it than against a program that will come into Saturday trying to ride the hot hand. 76-70 Ohio State.