WVU vs. Virginia: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Jimmy V Classic

The West Virginia Mountaineers and Virginia Cavaliers played each other on the basketball floor for the first time in 30 years during the 2015 Jimmy V Classic in New York at Madison Square Garden. West Virginia probably wouldn't mind waiting another 30 given Tuesday's second half.

Virginia knocked off head coach Bob Huggins' squad, 70-54, behind a dominant second-half performance. Point guard London Perrantes sat out much of the initial 20 minutes with foul trouble but was the driving force behind the comeback after halftime. He finished with 13 points and four assists, but it was his ability to control the flow late in the game that stood out.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com noted the turnaround:     

The Cavaliers dictated tempo and completely overwhelmed the overmatched Mountaineers in the last 20 minutes, as Rob Dauster of NBC Sports' College Basketball Talk described:

It wasn't all Perrantes for the victorious Cavaliers. Anthony Gill scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Malcolm Brogdon added 14 points and three rebounds. 

As for the Mountaineers, they failed to replicate the pressure defense that forced a number of turnovers in the early going after Perrantes returned to the game and settled the pace. Jaysean Paige scored 16 points off the bench, but West Virginia's 2-of-14 mark from three-point range proved to be part of its undoing against the No. 10 team in the nation.

The Cavaliers received good news before the win even started when Perrantes was in the starting lineup after missing two contests with an appendectomy, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv noted. That good news didn't last long in the first half.

Although Virginia escaped a matchup with a middling Ohio State team earlier in the season, Tuesday's showdown with West Virginia was the Cavaliers' first game against a ranked opponent this year. They looked like an untested bunch early when the Mountaineers jumped out to a double-digit lead.

Part of the problem was the fact Perrantes and Brogdon picked up two fouls apiece, although CavsCorner.com pointed to another concern:

Bob Hertzel of TimesWV.com praised West Virginia for dictating the early tempo:

With Perrantes and Brogdon dealing with foul trouble, Gill put Virginia on his back for the rest of the half and spearheaded a 7-1 run in the closing minutes. Behind Gill's 15 points and eight rebounds, the Cavaliers cut the deficit to 36-30 by halftime.

Virginia trimmed the lead to three early in the second half and found itself trailing 40-35 at the under-16-minute timeout. Perrantes was back on the floor and helping the Cavaliers reel in the pace of play, as Greg Madia of WVSports.com acknowledged:

Perrantes knocked down a three with less than 13 minutes remaining to cap off a 7-0 run and give the Cavaliers their first lead since the opening minute of the game at 42-40. Chris Anderson of 247Sports described one painful sequence in particular for West Virginia:

Keenan Cummings of WVSports.com commented on a big-picture issue in the second half: 

Virginia continued to control the second half and stretched its lead to 50-43 by making seven of eight field-goal attempts during an extended back-and-forth. Madia said the Mountaineers were doing themselves no favors on the other end in an effort to answer:

As frustrating as the free throws were for West Virginia, it couldn't do anything on offense to stop the bleeding either, as Hertzel realized:

Perrantes continued to underscore his importance with another three with less than five minutes left, and suddenly Virginia was up 60-49 after it trailed by double digits in the first half. It was the cliche "tale of two halves," and the guard's presence was a major reason why. Dauster remarked on the point guard's performance:

Seth Greenberg of ESPN complimented Virginia head coach Tony Bennett as the Cavaliers pulled away down the stretch: 

CavsCorner.com reflected on the second-half turnaround:

West Virginia never threatened in the final minutes, and Perrantes and Company finished with a victory.

What's Next?

West Virginia is no longer undefeated after it won its first seven games, but it has a golden opportunity to start a new streak in the coming contests. The Mountaineers face Louisiana Monroe, Marshall, Eastern Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Kansas State, TCU and Oklahoma State before a Jan. 12 showdown with Kansas.

None of those opponents before the Jayhawks game is ranked, and the Mountaineers can start putting together an impressive resume months before Selection Sunday.   

As for Virginia, Tuesday was an important nonconference victory because the slate doesn't get much easier before ACC play. The Cavaliers face No. 9 Villanova next and then a talented California opponent. The ACC is once again loaded with elite competition, which means the one-loss Cavaliers can ill-afford to lose too many nonconference games if they hope to contend for a top seed in the NCAA tournament.

Postgame Reaction

West Virginia had a number of issues that plagued it throughout the second half, but Huggins said “we were awful” when discussing his team’s tendency to allow layups in the halfcourt, per Matt Hauswirth of WVIllustrated.com.

Perhaps it would have been a different story if Juwan Staten didn’t graduate, especially since he averaged 14.2 points a game last season and 18.1 points a night in 2013-14. Paige said the team missed Staten in the backcourt, per Madia: “He controlled the game…that’s a big key that we have to work on.”

The Cavaliers do not have point guard concerns like West Virginia thanks to Perrantes. Bennett reflected on his guard’s performance, per Zagoria: “I thought he looked a little winded, a little rusty, but of course he responded.”

If that was what Perrantes looks like when he is winded, the ACC is in serious trouble when the point guard gets his legs underneath him.