NCAA East Regional Semifinal Game #1 Notes

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NCAA East Regional Semifinal Game #1

#1 Villanova vs. #5 West Virginia

Postgame Notes

General Notes

Villanova improves to 23-20 (.535) all-time against West Virginia with Friday’s 90-78 victory over the Mountaineers. The meeting was the first since Dec. 28, 2011.
Villanova advances to its 13th Elite Eight and fourth under Jay Wright (2006, 2009, 2016).
This marks the third straight year a Big East team has advanced to the Elite Eight (Villanova, 2016; Xavier, 2017; Villanova, 2018).
West Virginia has reached the Sweet 16 in eight of its last 12 NCAA appearances (1998, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2018).
Villanova trailed 60-54 with 11:00 to play in regulation and outscored West Virginia 36-18 the rest of the way.

Villanova Notes

Villanova was 27-for-54 (.500) from the field in the game, marking the 22nd time this year the Wildcats have shot 50 percent or better.
Jalen Brunson led the Wildcats with 27 points. It marked the 14th game this season in which the junior guard has scored at least 20 points. Villanova is 11-3 this season when Brunson scores at least 20.
Brunson’s 27 points give him 714 on the year, good for fifth in a single season in Villanova history. Brunson is the first Wildcat to score 700 points in a season since Kerry Kittles scored 706 in 1994-95.
Brunson jumped from 22nd to 18th on Villanova’s career scoring list with 1,625 points. His 27 points were a career-best in 11 NCAA tournament games (11.5 ppg).
Omari Spellman finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. The redshirt freshman had 13 points, five rebounds and three blocks in the second half.
The Wildcats move to 24-13 (.649) in the NCAA Tournament under Jay Wright and 58-34 (.630) overall.
The Wildcats’ 13 three-pointers give them 432 on the season – good for third in a single season in NCAA Division I history. Villanova enters Sunday’s East Regional final needing 11 3-pointers to break VMI’s all-time record of 442 in 2006-07.

West Virginia Notes

Jevon Carter was responsible for nearly half of West Virginia’s first-half points (20 of 42 – good for 48%). The senior guard scored eight points and dished out five assists, which accounted for 12 Mountaineers points.
Carter finished with 12 points and eight assists on the night.
Carter moved into second place all-time at West Virginia in NCAA Tournament scoring with 135 career points, surpassing Da’Sean Butler (134) while trailing only Jerry West (275).
With tonight’s game, Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. played in their 10th career NCAA Tournament game, tying for the most in school history.
West Virginia is 2-6 all-time in Sweet 16 games, having lost in the regional semifinal round in each of the last two seasons. The Mountaineers are 1-4 in the Sweet 16 under Bob Huggins.
It is just the second time this season that West Virginia has allowed 90 points – a 93-77 loss at Iowa State on Feb. 24.
This is just the 65th time under Bob Huggins (385 games) West Virginia has allowed its opponent to shoot 50 percent or better.
West Virginia is 31-29 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.