PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Da'Sean Butler scored 21 points, including the decisive basket with 5.8 seconds left in overtime, leading No. 10 West Virginia to a 68-66 victory over No. 9 Villanova on Saturday.

Butler grabbed 10 rebounds and finished 13 of 14 from the foul line for the Mountaineers (24-6, 13-5), who could still be the No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament depending on the result of Pittsburgh's game against Rutgers later Saturday.

Advertisement

Butler's winning drive came after the Mountaineers had taken possession with 26 seconds left when Villanova was forced into a 35-second shot clock violation.

Scottie Reynolds, who led the Wildcats (14-6, 13-5) with 17 points, had an open 3-point attempt from the corner but it bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

West Virginia overcame its worst first half of the season with an impressive defensive performance, holding the conference's highest-scoring team 18 points below its average.

Villanova forced overtime when Corey Fisher made his only 3-point attempt of the game with 7.7 seconds to play to make it 60-60. West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was signaling wildly for a timeout but none of the officials saw it - it was pretty loud in the Wachovia Center - and the Mountaineers settled on a long 3-point attempt by Devin Ebanks that missed everything.

Wellington Smith had 15 points - 13 after halftime - for West Virginia. Ebanks had 12.

Fisher had 12 points for the Wildcats, who missed their season low for points by one despite playing an extra 5 minutes.

Villanova led 29-16 at halftime, holding West Virginia to 24 percent shooting (6 of 25), including 2 of 12 on 3s. The Mountaineers also missed eight of 10 free throws, capping the poor shooting trifecta.

They started the second half with an 18-5 run to tie the game at 34 with 12:55 left. West Virginia matched its first-half point total 6:23 into the second.

West Virginia, the Big East's top defensive team allowing 64.8 points on average, did an exceptional job on Reynolds, the Wildcats' leading scorer at 18.9 points per game. The 6-foot-2 senior finished 5 of 16 from the field, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range, struggling throughout against West Virginia's taller guards who all had a chance to cover him.