SYRACUSE, N.Y., March 25 (UPI) -- Kevin Jones fueled a dominating second half Thursday that lifted West Virginia into the NCAA Tournament's regional finals with a 69-56 win over Washington.
West Virginia, the No. 2 seed in the East Region, emerged as the only Big East Conference team remaining out of the eight that began the tournament last week. Fellow Big East-member Syracuse lost Thursday to Butler in the West Region semifinals.
Washington played the Mountaineers on even terms throughout the first half and held a one-point lead at the break.
The game remained close through the first 6 minutes of the second half, but West Virginia took the lead for good at 39-37 on a 3-pointer by Jones and the Mountaineers steadily pulled away.
Jones led West Virginia (31-6) with 18 points, hitting 7-of-11 from the field. Da'Sean Butler added 14. The Mountaineers outrebounded the Huskies 41-25.
Justin Holiday had 14 points to pace Washington.
The Mountaineers survived in a game that was often sloppy. West Virginia shot only 40 percent from the field to 39 percent for Washington. The teams combined to make just 7-of-27 3-point tries and they had a total of 45 turnovers -- 23 for West Virginia.
