West Virginia hands Villanova its first loss

Team Stat Comparison
	WEST VIRGINIA	VILLANOVA
Points	91	87
FG Made-Attempted	33-64 (.516)	29-53 (.547)
3P Made-Attempted	11-22 (.500)	15-27 (.556)
FT Made-Attempted	14-19 (.737)	14-15 (.933)
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant)	17 (0/0)	19 (0/0)
Largest Lead	5	15

Game Leaders
	WEST VIRGINIA	VILLANOVA
Points	J. Herber 23	R. Foye 24
Rebounds	K. Pittsnogle 5	K. Lowry 5
Assists	J. Herber 6	K. Lowry 7
Steals	K. Pittsnogle 3	R. Foye 1
· Team stats: West Virginia | Villanova

Game Flow

Last 5 Games
WEST VIRGINIA	VILLANOVA
1/05 @South Florida W 57-53 12/30 Canisius W 80-68 12/22 @Oklahoma W 92-68 12/10 Duquesne W 86-66 12/07 M. Baltimore C W 82-53	1/05 @Louisville W 76-67 12/31 @Temple W 75-53 12/22 La Salle W 98-57 12/13 @Pennsylvania W 62-55 12/10 Longwood W 90-77
· Complete Schedule: West Virginia | Villanova

Big East Conference Standings
TEAM	CONF W-L	TOTAL W-L
Cincinnati	2-0	13-2
West Virginia	2-0	10-3
#20 Pittsburgh	1-0	12-0
Syracuse	1-0	13-2
Georgetown	1-0	9-2
Rutgers	1-0	11-3
#3 Villanova	1-1	10-1
#8 Louisville	1-1	12-2
Marquette	1-1	11-4
Seton Hall	1-1	9-4
DePaul	1-1	8-5
#2 Connecticut	0-1	12-1
St. John's	0-1	7-5
Notre Dame	0-2	9-4
Providence	0-2	7-6
South Florida	0-2	6-9
· View expanded standings

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) -- West Virginia couldn't make Villanova miss shots, so the Mountaineers forced the ball away from them.

Joe Herber scored 23 points and Kevin Pittsnogle had 22, leading West Virginia (Unranked ESPN/USA Today, No. 24 AP) to a 91-87 upset over No. 3 Villanova on Sunday.

Mike Gansey added 21 points as the Mountaineers (10-3, 2-0 Big East) beat their second top-10 opponent this season.

Randy Foye had 24 points and Mike Nardi scored 23 for Villanova (10-1, 1-1). The Wildcats had 22 turnovers to offset a strong shooting performance.

"I'm embarrassed about our defense when you look at the numbers, but the turnovers allowed us to keep people off the offensive boards and from getting putbacks," West Virginia coach John Beilein said.

The Mountaineers came in as 11½-point underdogs, but fought back from a 15-point deficit early in the second half.

Pittsnogle hit a 3 to cut Villanova's lead to 76-74 with under 5 minutes left and Herber made two free throws to tie it. After Allan Ray missed a 3-pointer, Frank Young hit a jumper to give West Virginia its first lead, 78-76, since the first half.

Herber's layup put West Virginia ahead 84-79 with 1:23 remaining and Pittsnogle's hook shot made it 86-81. Foye made a 3-pointer to cut it to 86-84.

A 3-pointer by Nardi got Villanova within 88-87, but Herber made two free throws and Nardi committed a crucial turnover. Patrick Beilein sealed it with a free throw.

Villanova shot 58 percent (29-for-50) from the floor, including 57.7 percent from 3-point range (15-for-26), but had trouble once West Virginia started trapping on defense.

"They're the best in the conference at that," Wildcats coach Jay Wright said. "Obviously, we've got to get better taking care of the ball. There's two teams that have trapped us -- the last two teams -- and we've turned the ball over.

"Even against Temple, another team that trapped a lot, we turned the ball over. Even when we're winning, we've said we're a work in progress. We still have to get a lot better. I think that was proven today."

West Virginia, which beat then-No. 7 Oklahoma 92-68 last month, has won eight in a row after losing three straight in late November. The Mountaineers avenged a 38-point loss at Villanova last year.

"Coming here and beating them, it was tremendous," Pittsnogle said. "They were hitting incredible shots, but we can shoot with anybody."

The Wildcats shot an astounding 71.4 percent (15-for-21) in the first half, including 76.9 percent (10-for-13) from 3-point range, to take a 46-37 lead.

Foye was 2-for-8 during the first half, while his teammates made all 13 of their shots.

But West Virginia made key defensive adjustments early in the second half after Nardi hit consecutive 3s to give Villanova a 52-37 lead in the opening minute.

"Anytime we got it, they really extended on me and Allan on the wings," Nardi said. "A couple of times, I got trapped and had to move the ball. I thought they really got out and didn't allow us to get 3s."

The fired-up Mountaineers held a 20-18 lead in the first half. But Shane Clark started a 7-0 run with a jumper. A 9-0 run put Villanova ahead 40-29, and Foye later beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer.

Villanova could've moved up in the rankings with a victory because Marquette beat No. 2 Connecticut 94-79 on Tuesday. The Wildcats became the seventh team ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll to lose in the past week.

"I thought we were prepared," Wright said. "I just give West Virginia a lot of credit. They made more intelligent plays and executed better longer in a great game."