Taz Sherman scored 13 of his 23 points in the first half to lift West Virginia to a 56-53 victory over No.15 UConn on Wednesday in a Big East-Big 12 Battle game at Morgantown, W. Va.

Sean McNeil finished with 16 points in his return from a one-game absence due to a back injury, helping the Mountaineers (8-1) improve to 6-0 at home despite a poor shooting performance. West Virginia shot just 39.6 percent (19 of 48) from the floor and 44.4 percent (12 of 27) from the free-throw line.

Isaiah Whaley scored 15 points and R.J. Cole added 14 for the Huskies (8-2), who made just 3 of 21 shots from 3-point range (14.3 percent) to see their three-game winning streak come to a halt.

UConn played its second straight game without Adama Sanogo (abdominal strain) and third straight without Tyrese Martin (wrist).

The Huskies seized a 43-38 lead midway into the second half after a spirited 10-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers from Cole. Tyler Polley had a tip-in and Jalen Gaffney made a layup as part of the surge.

Jalen Bridges sank a 3-pointer to stop the run, and Sherman added three buckets and a free throw before Pauly Paulicap added one from the charity stripe to give West Virginia a 52-51 lead with 3:06 to play.

Both teams went cold on offense until Sherman made the front end of a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left. He missed the second, but Gabe Osabuohien secured an offensive rebound and forced UConn to foul.

McNeil sank two foul shots to stake the Mountaineers to a 55-51 advantage. Whaley's tip-in halved the deficit with 12 seconds to play. McNeil made one of two free throws to give West Virginia a three-point lead, and Cole misfired on a last-second 3-point attempt that would have forced overtime.

Sherman and McNeil combined to make 9 of 16 shots from the floor to stake West Virginia to a 32-29 lead at halftime. The duo joined to go 5 of 10 from 3-point range before the break for the Mountaineers, while UConn drained just 1 of 12 from beyond the arc prior to intermission.

--Field Level Media