BOSTON — With 3-point shooting that was timely and lethal, Villanova made another Sweet 16 turn sour for West Virginia.
Senior guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles couldn’t extend their college careers as the Mountaineers lost 90-78 on Friday night, falling in the regional semifinal for the third time in four seasons.
“I felt like we gave it everything we had,” said Carter, who bowed out with 12 points, eight assists and four steals — a gritty performance that typified the second-winningest player in school history.
Miles scored a team-high 16 points despite being curbed by foul trouble for West Virginia (26-11).
BOXSCORE: Villanova 90, West Virginia 78
Jalen Brunson’s 27 points fueled the Wildcats (33-4), who overcame 16 turnovers and a second-half stretch where they threatened to become the third No. 1 seed ousted amid this year’s madness.
Trailing by six with under 11 minutes left, Villanova was in a rare funk, having missing 9-of-10 shots, when coach Jay Wright called timeout. He quickly realized his players weren’t panicking.
“When we got down six, I saw they pulled together so we could grind it out,” said Wright, praising his veterans Brunson and Mikal Bridges, who added 16 points. “If I looked in their eyes and saw fear or worry, I wouldve maybe went a little crazy, but I didn’t.
“Great win for us because West Virginia is so good. That was the most physically demanding, mentally demanding 40 minutes we’ve played in a long time.”
While Wright’s experienced leaders earned their usual kudos, it was Villanova’s 6-9 freshman, Omari Spellman, who kept exploiting Press Virginia’s gaps. He shot 4-of-7 from deep on his way to 18 points, part of the team’s 13-of-24 shooting from 3.
“He’s going to be a hell of a player,” said Mountaineers center Sagaba Konate, who wasn’t accustomed to chasing opposing big men to the perimeter.
West Virginia led 60-54 after Carter’s steal resulted in a layup, but Villanova countered in rapid-fire fashion with an 11-0 run that required only 1:59. Brunson started the surge with four points, followed by a Bridges 3 in transition and Spellman’s putback dunk.
“We got caught in mismatches where Brunson was able to get it to his left hand get the ball down the lane,” WVU assistant Ron Everhart said . “We had done a good job for about 30 minutes of preventing that from happening, but he started to get in that groove and he made us pay for it.”
West Virginia held a slight rebounding edge 39-36 but shot only 39 percent overall to Villanova’s 50. The team that hoisted more 3s than any coached by Bob Huggins, finished 7-of-28 from 3.
Over the final 14 minutes, West Virginia went particularly cold, missing 23 of 30 from the floor.
“We didn’t make open shots,” Huggins said. ”If you want to win in March, you have to make open shots.”
With many eyes focused on Brunson and Carter, the former AAU teammates had their share of head-to-head possessions. Brunson got loose for a 3 after Carter futilely pursued a rebound. Carter got revenge by beating an expiring shot clock with a fade-away jumper, part of a 10-0 run the put WVU up 52-47.
The highest-scoring team in the country at 86 points per game, Villanova sank its first six shots, including 3s by Spellman and Bridges.
Press Virginia eventually dug in by forcing nine first-half turnovers, four by guard Donte DiVincenzo, who also committed three fouls in only six minutes of action. In one sequence, after DiVincenzo fell to the court while corralling a defensive rebound, he got to his feet and recollected the ball only to be surrounded by defenders who forced a 10-second violation.
Brunson struck for 16 first-half points on only nine shot attempts, highlighted by a four-point play when he was tapped by Teddy Allen on a straight-away jumper.
While Villanova advanced to the Elite Eight to face the winner of Purdue-Texas Tech, the Mountaineers began to think about life after Carter.
“I’ve never had anybody work the way this guy works,” Huggins said. “He deserves a better ending, I think.”