MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU men’s basketball returns to action Friday for another nonconference home matchup at the WVU Coliseum.

Here is everything you need to know about the Mountaineers’ second game of the season:

WVU basketball vs. Monmouth game information

WVU basketball vs. Monmouth matchup preview

WVU interim head coach Josh Eilert has faced Monmouth twice during his time on-staff in Morgantown, and both games were against Hawks head coach King Rice. In 11 full seasons at the head of the Monmouth program, Rice has led his team to a pair of NIT appearances.

“They’ve got a scrappy bunch,” Eilert said. “They’ve got a bunch that wants to get up in you and take things away and really try to create havoc and turnovers. They’ve got a couple guys, between Jack Collins and Xander Rice, that are putting up a lot of shots [and] that can really score it.”

Rice (21 points per game) and Collins (17 points per game) led the Hawks in scoring last year in a season that ended in a last-place finish for Monmouth in the Coastal Athletic Association.

The Mountaineers will only have nine players available again Friday as Kerr Kriisa serves his suspension and Akok Akok’s status remains in question. In their season-opening win over Missouri State, eight players saw the floor for WVU, but only six of them logged over 20 minutes of playing time.

Forwards Quinn Slazinski (18 points, seven rebounds) and Jesse Edwards (13 points, 13 rebounds) led the charge for the Mountaineers.