West Virginia's Noah Farrakhan (1) shoots against UMass' Jaylen Curry during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Springfield, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

MORGANTOWN — Freshened by a week-long break and excited about the way three new starters have worked into his roster, West Virginia interim coach Josh Eilert senses a turnaround in his team’s fortunes as he heads into the heart of its schedule.

With guard RaeQuan Battle, point guard Kerr Kriisa and guard Noah Farrakhan having shed the NCAA shackles that kept them out of the season’s first month, forcing the Mountaineers to struggle through a losing 5-7 non-conference schedule that ends at 7 p.m. Saturday when they meet Ohio State in the Rocket Mortgage Arena in Cleveland, Eilert is radiating positivity about things to come.

“We have a heck of a roster right now that can compete with anybody,” Eilert said. “We don’t have a true 5-man with Jesse Edwards out (with a wrist injury), but we have some opportunities we can take advantage of now with strengths.”

Edwards was the key to both the WVU offense and defense as the Mountaineers awaited help at the guard position, the entire offense going slowly and running through Edwards.

He figures to be out another three weeks, reportedly getting the wrap off his injury in a week to begin working his way back toward the starting lineup.

Battle has come out with a vengeance, being all he was advertised as being and then some. The transfer from Montana State scored 29 points in each of his first two WVU games and has the ability to simply take over games.

Kriisa, too, is as advertised, a slick point guard who led Arizona into the heights of college basketball before transferring to WVU this past offseason, he debuted with a 20-point game and then followed that up with a double-double of 12 points and 10 assists.

But that much was expected of both. Farrakhan was expected to sit out the entire season until the NCAA caved in on its transfer rule that kept Battle and Farrakhan along with 175 other players across the country from receiving transfer waivers.

Farrakhan’s debut has been stunning, adding double-figure scoring in both games and a certain exuberance that has wormed its way into the attitude and style with which WVU is now playing.

“Noah’s bought in 100%. Never did he stray in any way,” Eilert said. “Sometimes you see a kid sitting out for a year, they might not be 100% locked in, knowing they won’t be playing until the next season. They may sort of just be going through the motions in practice, but Noah has never been like that.

“From Day 1, Noah has taken the opportunity seriously,” Eilert continued. “We had those conversations when he came in. It’s a challenge to sit out a year; it’s a challenge to stay locked in every day and he met those challenges. When his time came and the opportunity presented itself for him, he was ready to go.

“Yeah, he hasn’t gotten the reps that anyone else did with the first team. Mostly he was working with the scout team, but he locked in like a professional.

“So, there was not much of any transition of getting him ready to play when he was made eligible.”

The Ohio State game is a special matchup for the state of Ohio has been key in the success of West Virginia basketball for decades.

Both Gale Catlett and Bob Huggins, the two longest-tenured and winningest coaches in the school history, were native West Virginians, but both coached at Cincinnati before coming to Morgantown and Huggins lived his high school years in Ohio.

Both also played at WVU as did Fred Schaus, who was the most successful coach in the school’s history as he coached Jerry West.

Among others who came from Ohio to play at WVU are Miles McBride, Derek Culver, Mike Gansey, Lionel Armstead, Dale Blaney, Greg Jones and Greg Simpson.

Ohio State brings a 9-2 record into the game and offers a stiff challenge to WVU, even though the Mountaineers have won 8 of the last 9 games, including the last 3.

The two teams last played in Cleveland on Dec. 29, 2019, with No. 22 WVU defeating Ohio State, 67-59, one of their most cherished wins as the Buckeyes were ranked No 2 in the nation at the time.