The first 17 minutes of the game were nothing to write home about. West Virginia's cutters were getting to the basket. UVa was turning the ball over regularly. Brogdon and Perrantes were getting into foul trouble. It was not pretty and saw the Hoos fall into a 35-23 deficit, UVa's largest deficit of the season.
But the Cavaliers were able to turn it on in the final 3 minutes of the first half and went on a 7-1 run over the final 2:15 to cut the West Virginia lead. Although many though hope had been lost in the first half, the Hoos trailed just by 6 entering halftime and hope had been rejuvenated.