CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Recently, fans who flock to John Paul Jones Arena expect nothing less than a dominating victory from their Virginia basketball team.
In fact, the Cavaliers' previous home loss came in January 2015 at the hands of Duke.
Saturday was a much different story.
No. 25 West Virginia ended Virginia's 24-game home winning streak with a 66-57 win over the sixth-ranked Cavaliers.
Related
The Mountaineers shot 45 percent from the field and forced Virginia (7-1) into 14 turnovers to pull off the upset.
When asked how much West Virginia relies on their press to wear teams down, head coach Bob Huggins responded:
"A lot, it's not just them turning the ball over. It's a cumulative effect of not allowing teams to play at their own pace. We want them to play at our pace."
The lead changed hands 14 times in the second half as the teams went back-and-forth before a 3-pointer from Esa Ahmad with 1:27 left gave the Mountaineers a three-point lead and eventually the win.
West Virginia (6-1) was led by guard Jevon Carter with 11 points and forward Nathan Adrian with 10.
"Coach (Huggins) knows what he's doing in those situations," Adrian said. "As long as we follow him at times like that, we will be alright."
Virginia guard London Perrantes was only 2 of 10 from the field but dished out seven assists. The Cavaliers were led by guard Darius Thompson, who scored a game-high 14 points.
"We just wanted to make everything hard for him," Huggins said of defending Perrantes. "Hard to get open, hard to pass the ball, hard to shoot the ball. Just hard all around, and we did a pretty good job of that."
Perrantes' only three pointer of the game came with 3:09 remaining to give Virginia a 54-53 lead, but it would be the Cavaliers' last lead of the game.
West Virginia ended the game on a 13-3 run to capture one of their biggest road wins in recent history.
"West Virginia is obviously well-coached and very physical," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said. "They are a tough, veteran team and I think our guys gave effort, but we just couldn't match their physicality."
The Cavaliers shot 46 percent for the game but knocked down only six of their 19 three-point shots. Thompson was the only Virginia player to score in double figures. Freshman Kyle Guy put in seven points in only nine minutes.
Virginia led for all but 24 seconds in the first half, but let a 10-point lead slip away as the half progressed.
The Cavaliers took a 25-24 lead into the halftime break after shooting 43 percent. Jack Salt and Thompson led the way with six points each.
West Virginia took its first lead with 24 seconds to play in the first half.
The Mountaineers shot just 37 percent in the half, as they jacked up 30 shots. West Virginia's leading scorer in the half was guard Dexter Miles, who scored seven points before being ejected for throwing an elbow to the face of Virginia's Isaiah Wilkins.
NOTES: West Virginia has won eight of its last 10 games against ACC opponents. ... Virginia knocked off the Mountaineers 70-54 last season. ... West Virginia is forcing over 27 turnovers per game while Virginia averages only eight per game. ... This marks the Mountaineers' first trip to Charlottesville in 41 years. ... Virginia made only five of their 10 first-half free throw, and were 7 of 13 for the game. ... The Cavaliers look to bounce back from the loss when they host East Carolina on Tuesday night. West Virginia will host Western Carolina on Wednesday.
