West Virginia Upsets No. 7 BC in Big East

NEW YORK (AP) - Mike Gansey scored 21 points and West Virginia hung on to upset No. 7 Boston College 78-72 in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament Thursday, ruining the Eagles&#39; bid for a final conference championship.<br> <br> Kevin Pittsnogle added 17 points for the Mountaineers (20-9), who very likely wrapped up at least an NCAA tournament at-large bid with the surprising win over the Big East&#39;s top seed.<br> <br> West Virginia, the No. 8 seed, improved to 3-8 in the tournament and advanced to its first semifinals - against the winner of the Villanova-Pittsburgh game - Friday night at Madison Square Garden.<br> <br> Craig Smith scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Boston College (24-4), which leaves the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference after this season. The Eagles, who shared the regular-season title with Connecticut, sputtered through their last eight games, going just 4-4 and possibly hurting their chances at earning a top-3 seed. <br> <br> West Virginia beat Providence 82-59 in the first round Wednesday and looked as though it would run away with another win against Boston College before the Eagles stormed back.<br> <br> The Mountaineers took their biggest lead - 25 points - just 19 seconds into the second half on Gansey&#39;s three-point play that made it 47-22.<br> <br> Trailing 50-26, Boston College went on a 10-0 run, capped by consecutive dunks by Sean Marshall to get the Eagles within 14 at 50-36 with 13:16 left.<br> <br> The Eagles continued to whittle away at the lead, but Pittsnogle, the Mountaineers&#39; 6-foot-11 center, hit a 3-pointer with 8:16 left to make it 58-44. <br> <br> Boston College went on an 11-5 run, capped by Marshall&#39;s 3-pointer, to make it 62-58 with 4:41 left.<br> <br> West Virginia scored the next three baskets - including the third of Pittsnogle&#39;s 3-pointers on the day - to push the lead back up to 11 and prompt fans to chant &#34;ACC! ACC!&#34;<br> <br> As the teams traded foul shots during the last minute, the fans got on Boston College even more, chanting &#34;Over-rated!&#34;<br> <br> West Virginia, which shot 10-for-18 from 3-point range, was 8-for-11 from long distance at halftime - a major reason the Mountaineers led 44-22 at the break.<br> <br> Frank Young added 14 points and Joe Herber had eight points and eight rebounds for West Virginia.<br> <br> Jared Dudley scored 17 points and Marshall 15 for Boston College, which had won seven of the last eight meetings.