March 12, 2008

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NEW YORK (AP) - Joe Alexander scored 22 points and West Virginia held Providence to two field goals over the final 7 minutes of a 58-53 victory Wednesday in the opening round of the Big East tournament.

The Mountaineers (23-9) advanced to Thursday's quarterfinals, where they will face fourth-seeded and 15th-ranked Connecticut.

Alexander had averaged 31 points over the last three games and he had a hand in West Virginia's last six points against Providence (15-16).

Da'Sean Butler had 17 points for the Mountaineers, including consecutive baskets on offensive rebounds that started West Virginia's game-closing 11-5 run.

Weyinmi Efejuku had 12 points to lead the Friars, who dropped to 1-6 in their last seven Big East tournament games.

Butler's first offensive rebound came with 3:47 left on a missed 3-pointer by Darris Nichols as the shot clock expired and it gave the Mountaineers the lead for good at 49-48.

After a turnover by Providence, Butler grabbed a miss by Alexander and scored with 3:07 left for a three-point lead.

Efejuku scored down low, Providence's first field goal in nearly five minutes, to make it 52-50 with 2:33 to go. But Alexander made four straight free throws and then found Joe Mazzulla with a pass on the break for the basket that made it 58-50 with 8 seconds left. Brian McKenzie hit a 3 with less than 2 seconds to go, making the Friars 2-for-5 with six turnovers in the final 7 minutes.

West Virginia, which entered the game shooting 36 percent from 3-point range, went just 3-for-15 from behind the arc.

The Mountaineers beat the Friars three times this season and they have won eight of their last nine in the series, including going 3-1 in the Big East tournament since 2002.