Battle scores 29 again as WVU tops Toledo, 91-81
MORGANTOWN – For a while at the Coliseum on Saturday afternoon, West Virginia was playing five players on the floor but in reality it was a one-man show … the RaeQuan Battle show.
At halftime of a game WVU would win over Toledo, 91-81, before a healthy holiday crowd of 10,693, Battle had compiled 22 points. He was so good that if his shoelace had come untied – which it didn’t – it would have been the only negative of his half.
He made 8 of 10 shots … all kinds of shots. Dunks, 3-pointers, lay ups, jump shots. Everything but a Rod Hundley hook shot, and if someone had asked him to throw that up blindfolded it, too, would have gone in. He tossed in an assist and a rebound and then there were four steals.
Considering that he was coming off a 29-point debut with the Mountaineers after he beat the full-court press the NCAA put on him, it was safe to figure that everything they’d been saying about him being a special talent was true.
After all, the 29-point debut was the most any Mountaineer player had ever scored in his first game, so it is safe to say that since he finished with 29 in this game, it is the first time anyone has debuted with a pair of 29-point games.
Even though WVU fought so hard to get him eligible and things being said about him made him seem like something that hasn’t been seen in these parts for some time, it was surprising that he lived up to it so quickly.
One person who wasn’t surprised, however, was point guard Kerr Kriisa, who had himself quite a day, too, assisting on 10 baskets to give him a double-double as he also scored 12 points.
“I think he had 22 points at half and I didn’t even realize that,” Kerr said. “He’s like a silent killer. He took only 15 shots to make 29 points.”
And it isn’t a fluke, coming against Drexel and Toledo.
“When I was in Arizona, we played Montana State and he had 17 on us, and we had Pelle Larsson, one of our best guards, guarding him,” Kerr said. “If someone has 17 on Pelle, that’s solid points.”
But as the game went on WVU needed help from others and they were there to provide it. After leading by 10, the score was cut down to a single basket as Toledo kept scraping back into it. It required some big time moments from Kriisa and from Josiah Harris, whose production was built more on timing than on what shows in the box score.
And then there Akok Akok fitting in nicely inside, grabbing 12 rebounds and making big defensive plays.
Rebounding had been at the top of coach Josh Eilert’s list of things to do for some time.
“After the game, I met with the guys and the first thing I said, as everyone gave a standing ovation, ‘We finally outrebounded someone,”‘ Eilert said. “We were plus one on the glass. Big credit to Akok Akok there, especially in the second half, really shoring up some of those rebounding issues we were having, especially with the lack of size we have out there on the floor.”
The game definitely exhibited a step forward on a team that has never once this year had its starting five together.
“Like I said on the radio it’s a little bit of a chemistry thing,” Eilert said. “It’s one thing to practice together every day and try to learn off each other but until we get into game scenarios and get those guys the right run together it’s not the same in practice.
“I felt like they played more cohesive tonight on the offensive end. We were more of a balanced attack than we were the other night and just had more patience. We were more patient and fell back on some of that continuity today. Kerr did a great job with a double-double 12 and 10 assists. He’s got to be that floor general every night and we also need him to score. “
WVU is now 5-7 as it heads into the Christmas break.