Maalik Wayns scored 17 points, Corey Fisher had 16 and No. 12 Villanova pulled away late to beat No. 25 West Virginia 66-50 on Saturday.
The Wildcats (19-4, 7-3 Big East) finally got hot late in the second half to break open a sluggish first 30 minutes. The Wildcats led 45-40 midway through the second half, then went on a 19-3 run to coast toward their second straight win.
Wayns, Fisher and Corey Stokes all hit 3s during the spurt and the Wildcats were sensational from the field. They were 25 of 46 (54 percent) in numbers bolstered during the run.
Kevin Jones scored 16 points and John Flowers had 15 for the Mountaineers (15-7, 6-4).
Fisher and Wayns shot a combined 12 of 19 out of the backcourt and had nine assists.
Neither team could find much of a groove in an ugly and physical game.
Clock malfunctions, blood spills and poor shooting early made it a long day at Villanova's off-campus NBA home.
While Wayns and Fisher had help from their teammates, West Virginia could not overcome lengthy scoring droughts that derailed a two-game winning streak.
The Wildcats outrebounded the Mountaineers and played perhaps their best defensive game of the season.
Jones and Flowers were the only Mountaineers in double-digit scoring but Dalton Pepper gave them some long-range pop early in the second half to keep the score close.
Pepper, from nearby Levittown, Pa., hit a pair of 3s over 3 1/2 minutes that pulled the Mountaineers within five.
The Wildcats made 50 percent of their 3s and finally broke free offensively to spark a contest that certainly didn't have the big-game feel between two Top 25 teams.
Casey Mitchell was scoreless in his first game back from a three-game suspension for an undisclosed violation of team rules. He came off the bench late in the first half and played 9 minutes.
The Mountaineers went 2-1 without Mitchell. He's averaging 16.6 points per game, a team high.
Coach Bob Huggins didn't say why Mitchell, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, was suspended indefinitely on Jan. 24.
Darryl Bryant only played 13 minutes and was popped hard in the nose early in the second half that bloodied the court.
Bryant's 3 made it 10-4 - the last Mountaineers' field goal for 9:21. Fisher scored eight points on a 14-2 run during West Virginia's drought - it missed 13 straight shots - to pull ahead for good.
Fisher and Wayns each hit 3s in the final minutes of the first half to help the Wildcats take a 30-19 lead at the break.
Fisher and Wayns have been as dangerous a duo as any guard combo in basketball this season and the Mountaineers were just the least team that failed to handle the speedy sharpshooters.
