Alexander (34 points) explodes for W. Virginia

NEW YORK -- One year has made a remarkable difference for Joe Alexander and West Virginia.

Last March, Alexander didn't score a point as the Mountaineers beat Clemson in the NIT championship game.

On Thursday, the 6-foot-8 junior forward scored a career-high 34 points on the same Madison Square Garden court as West Virginia beat No. 15 Connecticut 78-72 in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.

The fifth-seeded Mountaineers (25-7) will play top-seeded and ninth-ranked Georgetown in the semifinals tonight.

Alexander has been the key to a season-closing run that had almost assured them of at least an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.

"The adjustment has come for me. I'm in better shape physically, lifting more throughout the entire season," he said. "I feel like I have my legs underneath me as opposed to last year when I lost a lot of weight at this point."

All he's been losing lately are defenders.

Alexander is averaging 29.8 points over his last five games.

Georgetown 82, Villanova 63: Jessie Sapp scored 23 points and No. 9 Georgetown (26-4) tied a Big East tournament record with 17 3-pointers, fending off a second-half comeback to beat Villanova (20-12).

Villanova had a 47-43 lead midway through the second half, but Sapp came alive a few minutes later, converting a 3-point play to put Georgetown ahead 51-50 with 12:04 to go. He followed with a 3-pointer to begin building the lead and the Hoyas pulled away.