Saturday night held a hard-fought battle between the Mountaineers and Buckeyes in the Legends of Basketball showcase, but the Mountaineers were unable to complete their comeback, falling 78-75 in overtime.

WVU got out to a quick start by forcing a turnover on the defensive end, resulting in a three from Raequan Battle on their first possession.

After the game became tied at five, Ohio State went on a 7-0 run to put the Mountaineers behind 12-5 with five minutes expired.

In the next five minutes leading to the midway point of the first half, West Virginia had scored just one point, until a transition dunk from Quinn Slazinski put the score at 16-8 in favor of the Buckeyes.

Noah Farrakhan got the Mountaineers within seven with a pull-up jumper with five minutes to go, the score now 24-17.

Two minutes later, WVU found themselves within five after a pair of free throws from Skazinski. A set of free throws from Josiah Harris then shortened the Ohio State lead to three with a minute and a half left in the first, the score now 26-23.

A three from Kerr Kriisa and layup from Ohio State ended the half, with WVU down 28-26 going into the second. Quinn Slazinski lead the Mountaineers with 9 points, helping them get back into the game after being down double digits for a significant portion of the half.

Ohio State began the second half by extending their lead to six thanks to two threes by Jamison Battle. That lead quickly spiraled into a double-digit lead, though Farrakhan brought WVU back within seven with a three.

An and-one layup in transition by Josiah Harris brought WVU within four. Farrakhan then got West Virginia back within two, how they started the half, though he turned the ball over on the next possession resulting in a bucket from Ohio State.

Back-to-back threes from Ohio State put the Buckeyes up eight, though Battle canceled one out with a three of his own. Then, a layup from Farrakhan made it a one-possession game once again.

After yet another Buckeye three-pointer, Farrakhan finished an and-one lay which would have made it a one-possession game again had he not missed the free throw. He then fouled a three-point shooter on the other end, putting West Virginia down seven.

A nice alley-pop from Kriisa to Battle shortened that lead to five, until Ohio State responded immediately with a three to put WVU behind by eight.

Quinn Slazinski answered with a layup and then found Pat Suemnick for an and-one layup to shorten the deficit to three.

Following a dunk by the Buckeyes, Battle shortened their lead to two with a three, leaving just under three minutes to play in the game.

With just over a minute remaining and the Mountaineers down by four, Pat Suemnick got a putback layup after an offensive rebound off of a missed three from Farrakhan to get them within two. Suemnick then tied the game at 65 with another layup off an assist from Farrakhan, leaving just 30 seconds on the clock.

A defensive stand by West Virginia forced the game into overtime thanks to the Mountaineers' continued fight, despite not leading since the first few minutes of the game.

Ohio State hit a three to begin OT, though Battle responded with a layup off of an offensive rebound. The Mountaineers then gave up another three, putting the Buckeyes ahead by four.

Farrakhan hit a pull-up jumper from mid-range to make it a one-possession game, but Ohio State hit yet another three to get up by five.

With 50 seconds remaining, Battle finished a dunk in transition to get within three. The Mountaineers were unable to come away with a rebound off of an Ohio State miss at the other end, instead sending Ohio State to the free throw line with an opportunity to make it a two-possession game, though they missed both. The Buckeyes then sent Kerr Kriisa to the line, but he was unable to convert, ultimately ending the game at a score of 78-75.

Raequan Battle finished the game with 24 points and Noah Farrakhan added 19 in the loss.

West Virginia will begin conference play on January 6th against Houston, in what will be their toughest battle thus far.

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