New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - Freshman Devin Ebanks notched career-highs with 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the West Virginia Mountaineers to an unlikely 74-60 victory over the second-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.

Alex Ruoff and Da'Sean Butler contributed to the balanced scoring attack with 18 and 16 points, respectively, as the seventh-seeded Mountaineers (23-10) earned the right to face either Syracuse or UConn in the semifinals on Friday.

John Flowers was a spark with nine points and six boards for West Virginia, which made 24-of-27 from the foul line to come away with the upset.

The Panthers' bid for a No. 1 ranking in the NCAA Tournament took a big hit as the No. 2 seed did not take advantage of their two-round bye.

Pitt (28-4), which missed all eight of its three-point attempts, had advanced to the finals of the conference tourney in seven of the previous eight years and were the defending Big East champs.

Sam Young paced the Panthers with 15 points and six rebounds, while DeJuan Blair added 14 and five before fouling out late in the game. Levance Fields was not effective from the point guard position, posting just six points, six assists and seven rebounds to go with five turnovers in the setback.

Pittsburgh took the two regular season contests by a combined 23 points, but the Mountaineers completely turned the tables on their arch rivals Thursday.

Ebanks' throw down over Jermaine Dixon capped an impressive run to open the second half, giving WVU a 45-37 lead just over three minutes in.

Pitt, which held the No. 1 ranking in the country on two separate occasions this season, failed to hit a field goal between the 16- and nine-minute marks to fall further behind.

Ruoff's jumper with nine minutes to play pushed WVU's cushion to 61-47, and Butler nailed a three from NBA range for a 68-53 lead four minutes later.

Pitt scored the next seven points to give it a puncher's chance, but Blair's layup to make it a 68-60 with two minutes on the clock was the Panthers' last bucket, as the Mountaineers clinched the win at the foul line.

The largest lead for either team in the opening 20 minutes was six, and the halftime score was 36-34 in favor of West Virginia thanks to Flowers' tip-in just before the buzzer.

Game Notes

WVU has reached the semis in two straight seasons...The Mountaineers lead the all-time series with rival Pitt, 94-84...The Panthers made 14-of-19 from the foul line...West Virginia made 4-of-13 from three-point range.