We expected a tough game, and we got one. West Virginia did what it does best, making opponents uncomfortable, but Villanova responded time and again and ultimately gutted out a 90-78 win to earn a trip to the Elite 8.

The ‘Cats came out firing, hitting their first six shots to open a 14-8 lead. In a sign of thigs to come, West Virginia didn’t back down and the Mountaineers eventually scraped their way to a 25-24 lead of their own. From there the teams traded blows, with Villanova taking a two-point lead into the half.

The hot start was aided by Villanova’s ability to break the West Virginia press with ease, but eventually it began to have its desired effect, allowing West Virginia to get back in the game as ‘Nova finished with nine first half turnovers.

The second half brought more struggles with the press and the offensive struggles that come with them. Eric Paschall opened the second half scoring with a three, but it would be the only ‘Nova bucket for the next five-plus minutes. The Mountaineers went on a 10-0 run over that span to take a five-point lead, 52-47.

The big spurt by West Virginia gave a hint as to how the second half would play out, as the teams continued to trade blows, although these blows more resembled haymakers as opposed to the jabs the teams exchanged in the first half.

‘Nova took that first big blow of the second half and responded with a 5-0 spurt to even things at 52. West Virginia came right back with an 8-2 run, taking its largest lead of the game at 60-54. The run was capped by a Jevon Carter layup with 11:08 to go, prompting a timeout from Jay Wright.

The ‘Cats came out of the timeout with one of their patented shock and awe runs, going on an 11-0 spurt over the span of two minutes to turn that six-point deficit into a five-point lead. The ‘Nova push was capped with an exclamation point courtesy of an incredible sequence from Omari Spellman. An emphatic Spellman block sent the ‘Cats out in transition, and the big man ran the floor and followed a Phil Booth miss with a thundering put-back slam. This time it was Bob Huggins’ turn to call a timeout.

A Teddy Allen bucket temporarily stopped the bleeding, but ‘Nova had started to click and began to smell blood in the water. Three’s from Donte DiVincenzo and Spellman sandwiched two free throws from Allen, building the lead to seven. Paschall then dunked over heralded West Virginia shot-blocker Sag Konate, sending the ‘Nova crowd into a frenzy and pushing the lead to nine. Konate responded with a dunk of his own on the other end, but Jalen Brunson promptly answered with a three for a double-digit Villanova lead with 5:41 to go.

The teams traded scores as the clock began to work against the Mountaineers, and despite the press causing some uneasy moments down the stretch, the ‘Cats kept West Virginia at bay and put the game away at the free-throw line.

A couple of things about this game…

One, West Virginia did an excellent job in the two areas that were widely considered keys to this game. The Mountaineers outrebounded ‘Nova 39-36, including 16 offensive rebounds. And overall, they were successful with the press, giving them the edge in turnovers. ‘Nova turned the ball over 17 times, seven more than its average, and only forced 11 West Virginia turnovers. If you told me before the game Villanova would give up 16 offensive rebounds, be -3 on the glass, commit 17 turnovers and be -6 in turnover margin, I would assume that they lost the game. Instead, they still managed to win by 12.

Two, the narrative around this game will be that ‘Nova gutted out an ugly win. And they did, kind of. The optics will support that narrative, as a physical game in which the winning team committed 17 turnovers doesn’t lend itself to aesthetically pleasing basketball. But the numbers show that Villanova played a fantastic basketball game at both ends of the floor, and when the ‘Cats managed to elude the chaos West Virginia tried to create their offense at times resembled the poetry in motion that we have seen so much this season.

For the game the ‘Cats shot 50% from the floor and 54% from three. They assisted on 16 of their 27 made baskets. They scored 90 points despite giving away 17 possessions.

Meanwhile, while “Press Virginia” and the turnovers will garner much of the attention when discussing the defensive end of the floor in this game, it was the ‘Nova defense locking down in the half-court and ultimately helping the ‘Cats to victory. West Virginia had the same number of made FG’s as Villanova but needed 16 extra attempts to get them. They shot 39% from the floor and 25% from three.

So yes, the turnovers were problematic and yes, the game was ugly at times. But don’t let that distract you from the fact that Villanova put on a very impressive performance at both ends of the floor and beat a very good, very unique team by 12 points despite committing 17 turnovers and giving up 16 offensive rebounds. It’s virtually impossible to prepare for what West Virginia is going to show you, and Villanova ultimately wore them down and overpowered them while learning on the fly.

We’re getting a little long here, so we’ll skip the full statistical recap. We’ll just note that Jalen Brunson was incredible, scoring 27 points and dishing 4 assists while shooting 8-15. His steady, heady play was invaluable, and he got Villanova exactly what it needed when it needed it. He did a great job head-to-head with one of the most underrated two-way players in the country in Jevon Carter, and constantly played Villanova into open looks. Mikal Bridges chipped in 16 points despite missing a large part of the first half with foul trouble, shooting 4-8 from the floor and 3-5 from three, adding six rebounds and an assist. Omari Spellman came up big in the biggest game of the season so far, showing just how important he is to this team and the kind of impact he can have. He poured in 18 points on 6-11 from the floor and 4-7 from three while grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out 3 three assists, swatting three blocks, and swiping two steals. He also happened to have a starring role in the run that helped ‘Nova take final control of the game. Eric Paschall chipped in a big 14 points, two rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block.

West Virginia immediately jumped out as a potential problem when the bracket was released on Selection Sunday, and on Friday night they showed why. They harassed and harangued Villanova all game long, having as much success making the ‘Cats uncomfortable as any team this season, standing toe-to-toe with the Wildcats all game long. And then Villanova showed why it was among the handful of favorites to win the tournament. The ‘Cats remained calm in spite of the pressure and the resulting turnovers. They kept executing, kept getting good looks, and perhaps most importantly, put forth a very good, disciplined defensive effort, gutting out a win that was prettier than it looked against an incredibly unique opponent.

Now the ‘Cats await the winner of Purdue-Texas Tech for a shot at the Final Four on Sunday.