Seton Hall Seton Hall/West Virginia W. Virginia Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Calvin Bowman scored 26 points and Lionel Armstead had a season-high 24 as West Virginia took advantage of poor second-half shooting by Seton Hall (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 16 AP) for an 81-75 victory Saturday night.

West Virginia (12-5, 3-3 Big East) beat a ranked opponent for the first time since December 1998, a span of 12 games.

"I'm glad we stopped the streak," West Virginia coach Gale Catlett said. "There's magic in this building and it worked tonight. You've got to have magic to beat a team like that."

Seton Hall's players admitted it was tough playing with the noise from the raucous crowd of 9,419. Hundreds of fans stormed the court after the game and mobbed Bowman and other West Virginia players.

"I had a lot of fun. This is the biggest win," Bowman said. "People on the team got tired of everyone saying we can't beat ranked teams. Today, we came together and did it."

For the second time this month, Seton Hall (12-6, 3-4) lost to an unranked opponent after beating a Top 25 team the previous game.

"There aren't any upsets in this league," Seton Hall coach Tommy Amaker said. "There may be surprises, but there are no upsets."

After making 10 3-pointers in the first half to lead by three at halftime, Seton Hall shot just 24.4 percent in the second half, including 3-of-14 3-pointers.

Darius Lane led Seton Hall with 21 points. Freshman Eddie Griffin had 19 points and 10 rebounds, but was limited to just four points in the second half.

"It was real tough," Griffin said. "They hung around and never went away. They played better than us and they deserved to win."

The Mountaineers held their own on the boards despite playing without center Chris Moss, who took an indefinite leave of absence earlier in the week after being ejected and then spitting on a cheerleader at Notre Dame.

"Blocking out won us the game," Armstead said. "This lets us know we can beat good players and teams in the Big East."

The lead changed hands 11 times in the second half.

Armstead's 3-pointer with four minutes remaining started a 7-0 run and gave West Virginia the lead for good, 72-71.

Ty Shine got a steal and layin, and Greg Morton hit two free throws as Seton Hall cut its deficit to 76-75 with 1:12 left. The Pirates, however, did not score again.

West Virginia scored five points in the final 30 seconds to seal the win, including Bowman's layin on a court-long feed from Armstead after a wild scramble.

"I saw Calvin break. Then he saw it and finished it, like Calvin always does," Armstead said.

Tim Lyles added 13 points and Josh Yeager had 10 for West Virginia.

Marcus Toney-El added 13 points for Seton Hall and Shine had 11. Samuel Dalembert had 14 rebounds before fouling out.

The Mountaineers, who committed just 14 fouls, shot 55 percent in the first half, but trailed 47-44 at halftime.

ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Seton Hall Clubhouse

West Virginia Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
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West Virginia's Calvin Bowman collects the basket and gets fouled.
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West Virginia's Lionel Armstead avoids the defense and scores the bucket.
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Seton Hall's Ty Shine steals the ball and brings it down the court for the deuce.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1