stftckgl
By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- John Allen scored 18 points and Seton Hall put a dent in West Virginia's NCAA tournament hopes by stunning the Mountaineers 66-63 in the Big East Conference regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday.
Fellow senior Andre Sweet added 12 points and Jamar Nutter and Justin Cerasoli came up with big plays in the final 2:43 as the Pirates (12-15, 4-12) snapped a five-game losing streak and ended a four-game winning streak for West Virginia (18-9, 8-8).
The Mountaineers, who had won 6-of-7, came into the game knowing they needed a win to impress the NCAA tournament selection committee.
Now, they will probably have to win at least two games in next week's conference tournament to even have a chance at their first NCAA tournament berth since 1998.
Tyrone Sally and Johannes Herber had 13 points apiece for West Virginia, which was held to a season-low 17 first-half points. Kevin Pittsnogle had 11 and Mike Gansey 10.
The Mountaineers, who trailed by as many as 16 points late in the first half, got to within 54-52 when Pittsnogle converted a four-point play with 3:47 to go, a play on which Pirates center Kelly Whitney fouled out.
However, Seton Hall never let West Virginia tie the game.
Nutter converted a 3-point shot with 2:43 to go to push the lead to five points.
West Virginia twice cut the lead to three points, but Nutter drove the lane for a layup with 1:01 to go to give Seton Hall a 61-56 lead. The basket came seconds after Nutter nearly turned the ball over and seemed to push a Mountaineer defender to get the ball back.
After Sally drove the baseline to get West Virginia to within 61-58 with 51.9 seconds left, Cerasoli broke the Mountaineers' back with a long 3-pointer with 23.7 seconds to go.
Gansey hit a 3-pointer to bring the Mountaineers within 64-61 with 11 seconds to go, but Donald Copeland made two free throws a second later to ice the game.
Copeland finished with 10 points for Seton Hall, which shot 48.9 percent from the field and held West Virginia to 37.3 percent on 19-of-51 shooting.
