NEW YORK -- It had been 31 years since Virginia played West Virginia in men's basketball. And the last time the state border rivals played in a regular-season game was in 1976.

The No. 10 Cavaliers and No. 14 Mountaineers finally met Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Basketball Classic, and Virginia came back from a 12-point deficit in the first half to prevail 70-54 over WVU.

"It was obviously a tale of two halves," said Virginia coach Tony Bennett. "We absolutely got punched in the mouth (early). We were poor on the defensive end; we were fortunate.

"We clawed back a little bit at the end of the first half."

The Cavaliers (8-1) got 20 points and 12 rebounds from forward Anthony Gill, who made nine of 11 shots from the field.

"He had a terrific game," Bennett said of Gill. "He was very tough on the glass. He was really good in all areas."

Virginia also benefitted from the play of point guard London Perrantes, who had missed the previous two games (appendix) but scored all 13 of his points after halftime against West Virginia and added four assists.

"I thought he looked a little winded, a little rusty. But he responded," Bennett said of Perrantes. "He held his side late in the game when he dove for the ball."

Said Perrantes: "I think I knocked all the rust off in the first half. If I had any more rust after that than he needed to pull me. The first half was tough. The rest of the team just held me up. They brought us back into the game and then I just played more aggressive in the second half. My teammates just kept my confidence up and they told me to be ready to shoot."

The Mountaineers (7-1) made just 40 percent of their field goals and were two of 14 from three-point range in the second half.

"They did not shoot the ball particularly well," Bennett said of West Virginia.

The Mountaineers led by 12 points several times in the first half but had 18 turnovers overall. They got 16 points from reserve guard Jaysean Paige and 10 from center Devin Williams. Forward Jonathan Holton was held scoreless in the second half after he had eight points at halftime.

"They are a good team. They are extremely well coached," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. "We turned it over too much. We can't shoot 50 percent (12-for-21) from the foul line."

West Virginia guard Jevon Carter missed 8 of 9 shots and fellow starting guard Daxter Miles, Jr. was one of eight from the field.

"Carter is a very talented guy and he is a good kid," Huggins said. "He is an outstanding kid; he has not shot the ball very well."

Virginia also got 14 points from guard Malcolm Brogdon and 10 from guard Darius Thompson. The Cavaliers shot 63 percent from the field.

The Cavaliers came back to take the lead at 42-40 with 13:03 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Perrantes.

He made a field goal with 10:04 left to make it 48-43 and Virginia expanded the margin to 50-43 on a basket by Thompson, forcing West Virginia to call time. Perrantes had a dunk off a turnover to give the Cavaliers an edge of 54-45 with 7:20 remaining and he made another 3-pointer to build the margin to 60-49 with 4:30 to go.

Virginia won despite 19 turnovers after it entered the game making less than eight turnovers per contest this season.

Virginia's first three baskets came on dunks, but West Virginia took a 15-10 lead early on a basket by forward Esa Ahmad.

After West Virginia led 35-23 with 2:20 to go on a field goal by reserve guard Tarik Phillip, Virginia trimmed the lead to 36-30 at halftime.

But it was all Virginia in the second half.

"We were awful" on defense in the second half, Huggins said.

NOTES: It was the first game between the schools since the 1985 NIT tournament. The series began during the 1915-16 season. ... Virginia now leads the all-time series 9-8. ... West Virginia was forcing its opponents to turn the ball over 30.3 percent of its possessions prior to Tuesday, the best mark in the nation. ... Virginia is off until hosting Villanova on Dec. 19 at noon in Charlottesville while West Virginia hosts UL Monroe on Sunday. ... West Virginia has two players from Brooklyn: G Tarik Phillip and fellow junior G Teyvon Myers.