YOUNGSTOWN — Jerrod Calhoun looked around the inside of the Covelli Centre for the first time. He, his wife, Sarah, and their three younger daughters, Kennedy, Kendall and Quinn, were watching Disney On Ice’s “Frozen,” something parents do with younger children.

“I’ve never seen what it’s like with the basketball set-up,” said Calhoun, the Youngstown State University men’s basketball coach.

On Saturday that changes as the Penguins (6-5) take on No. 25-ranked West Virginia University at the Covelli Centre, starting at 1 p.m. Tickets are available at covellicentre.com.

The last time YSU played at the Covelli Centre was Dec. 8, 2012, when the Penguins beat Hiram, 71-44. There were only 1,576 in attendance for that contest.

Eric Ryan, JAC Management Group President, who runs the Covelli Centre and Packard Music Hall in Warren, said his goal was to have a high-major team to come in and play YSU. As of Tuesday afternoon, Ryan said there were 2,500 tickets sold.

Calhoun’s ties with West Virginia coach Bob Huggins made Saturday’s game possible.

West Virginia has a couple of former area players on its team. The first is Derek Culver, a 6-foot-10, 255-pound sophomore who was a standout at Warren G. Harding High School.

The other is 6-9, 258 freshman Oscar Tshiebwe, who played at Kennedy (Pa.) Catholic High School.

The pair are some of the best post players in the Big 12 and the nation. That alone will draw some local interest.

West Virginia brings its own crowd, but Calhoun hopes to see some other colors represented Saturday afternoon.

“What we need is a lot of red,” he said. “The West Virginia fans are some of the best in the country. People don’t realize that. The people in that state do. They travel and they take over arenas. They drown out the other people’s fans. I’ve seen it time and time again. They’re very passionate about their team. We’ve had some really good crowds this year. We hope it continues.

“Saturday is a great opportunity, as a basketball fan, to see a high-level team against your hometown team. We hope everybody comes out and supports these kids.”

Calhoun and Ryan both hope a game at the Covelli Centre becomes a yearly occurrence for the Penguins.

“It gives you a really neat environment,” Calhoun said. “I think one game a year down there is something we could shoot for.”

Ryan is hoping for 4,000 to 5,000 tickets sold at the Covelli Centre, which seats 5,900 for basketball. He added his staff is running the operations on Saturday, putting a different twist on things with the Jumbotron, floor seats and a car giveaway to give it a big-game atmosphere.

He said he envisions possibly making this a three-day event with high school games on Friday and Sunday around a YSU game against a high-level opponent on Saturday.

“If we want to have things like this, we need the community to support it,” Ryan said. “Tickets have picked up and are selling good. We need to finish strong.

“We need to bring attention to this. This is a top-25 team playing here.”

The Penguins need to keep up their end by winning tonight at the Beeghly Center against Binghmaton (5-5), which last played Dec. 7, in an overtime loss to Boston University. The Bearcats are led by 6-0 sophomore guard Sam Sessoms, who had 40 points in the loss. Tonight’s game starts at 7:45 p.m.

“I think if we can come out and defend and really lock in, it’ll give ourselves a good shot,” Calhoun said. “We’re going to have our hands full because this is the second-best shooting team we’ve seen all year other than Louisville. These kids can flat-out shoot the ball.”