Villanova pulls away from West Virginia for victory in Sweet 16

BOSTON — Villanova took a page out of West Virginia’s book and decided to play a little defense of its own when it really mattered Friday night in its East Region semifinal game at TD Garden.

The top-seeded Wildcats made a series of defensive stops to spark a 19-4 run over a 4{-minute stretch midway through the second half, sparked by Omari Spellman’s strong play in the paint, and went on to defeat the Mountaineers, 90-78, to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Villanova (33-4) will play Sunday against the winner of Friday night’s second semifinal game between No. 2 seed Purdue and No. 3 Texas Tech for the right to go to the Final Four for the second time in three years.

Jalen Brunson led the Wildcats with 27 points and Spellman added 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. After a slow start in the second half, Villanova made 10 of its last 14 shots from the field and took decent care of the basketball, committing five of its 14 turnovers.

“He didn’t do anything that we’re not already used to,” Brunson said of Spellman’s play. “We expect him to play at a high level every game. For him to play like that, it’s great for him and how consistently he’s been doing it. When he makes shots, it’s not special for us. We’re thankful for it, though.”

Spellman, who hit a team-high four of Villanova’s 13 3-point baskets, said he was looking for his shots.

“Coach (Jay Wright) always tells me to catch and shoot,” he said. “We were just looking to come out and run the offense and score. I was just trying to take the right shots and be aggressive.” The fifth-seed Mountaineers (26-11) used an 8-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 60-54, on a layup by Jevon Carter with 11 minutes, 9 seconds to play. But West Virginia had trouble finding the hoop for an extended period with the ‘Nova defense raising its level of play.

The Wildcats called timeout after Carter’s basket and then went on an 11-0 run sparked by a three-point play from Brunson. Spellman emphatically ended the spurt by blocking Carter’s layup at one end, then dunking home a Phil Booth miss at the other, giving Villanova a 65-60 lead with 9:03 left.

West Virginia got to within four, but the Wildcats got 3-point baskets from Spellman and Brunson in an 8-2 run that made it 76-66 with 5:37 to play. The lead grew to 11 after another 3 by Spellman and two free throws by Brunson with 2:12 to play.

Daxter Miles led West Virginia with 16 points before fouling out with 2:12 to play. Carter added 12 points and eight assists.

The West Virginia press made Villanova uncomfortable in the first half. The Wildcats committed nine turnovers during that time, four from Donte DiVincenzo, who picked up three fouls in the opening 20 minutes. Mikal Bridges also had to sit for 11 minutes with two personal fouls.

Still, Villanova held a 44-42 lead at the half. Brunson provided the scoring for the Wildcats with 16 points and the team, after hitting its first six shots from the floor, ended the half at 51.7 percent.

The Mountaineers defense went up a level at the start of the second half. After Eric Paschall hit the Cats’ first shot, a 3-pointer, West Virginia scored

the next 10 points, including two baskets and a neat assist from Sagaba Konate.

The Wildcats came out strong, hitting their first six attempts from the floor including two 3-point baskets to take an early 14-8 lead. After Brunson converted a three-point play and Bridges sank a 3-point basket for a 22-17 advantage at the 12:05 mark, the Cats went the next six minutes with just one field goal, and saw Bridges go to the bench during that time

with his second personal foul.

An 8-2 run gave the Mountaineers their first lead of the night, 25-24, on Carter’s 3-pointer with 8:05 left in the half. The Wildcats followed with a 6-0 run, which West Virginia answered with eight consecutive points for a 33-30 lead with 5:15 remaining.

Brunson kept Villanova close, scoring 11 straight Wildcat points at one point including a four-point play with 2:57 left that put the Cats in front, 37-35. The advantage later grew to four, 44-40, on Paschall’s 3-point basket with 48 seconds left, but Esa Ahmad’s dunk made it a two-point game at the break.