NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Mountaineers had only one basket from the field in the final seven minutes and thirty seconds of the BIG EAST tournament championship game. It just so happens that the basket they had was the game-winner by Da’Sean Butler.

For the fourth straight game, West Virginia put the ball in Butler’s hands for the last shot of the game. For the third time, he put it through the rim for the win and WVU’s first BIG EAST championship title.

“I think [Georgetown’s Greg] Monroe was on me and I think he had a feeling I was going to shoot a three,” said Butler, wearing the net as a necklace after the game. “I had a little hesitation, went around him and [Austin] Freeman stepped up, and I had a little hop step and scooped the lay-up off the glass and it fell.”

At the other end, Chris Wright’s driving lay-up hit the front of the rim and landed harmlessly on the court as the West Virginia bench exploded from the sidelines to celebrate on the BIG EAST logo.

The sound of the Mountaineer faithful cheering on their team was topped only by the blaring melody of John Denver’s “Country Roads.”

“It’s a West Virginia thing, but I’m glad we could bring it to New York,” said Kevin Jones in the locker room.

West Virginians are glad Huggins could bring this group of New Yorkers to the Mountain State, and with them a banner that will soon hang proudly at the Coliseum.

“They understand how much it means to the people in the state of West Virginia,” said Bob Huggins, a hometown hero in Morgantown. “They’ve done an unbelievable job of becoming a part of the community and it’s like the governor told them… ‘You are all West Virginians and you’re always going to be.’

“I think they appreciated that and they take it to heart.”

Turkey native Deniz Kilicli held the championship trophy close as though he would never let it out of his arms and explained just how much it means to him to stand in the world’s most famous arena as a champion.

“This means so much to be holding this trophy right now because we were working on it for months, we were going hard and now this is like my baby now,” said Kilicli. “I’m really proud to be part of this team.”

Huggins said this win was all about the team, and nothing to do with his own work. That is why he stood aside as the players jubilantly celebrated a conference championship.

“They’re the ones who come in and go through what they go through on a day-to-day basis. They’re the guys who have to go out and produce on the floor. All I do is stand over there.”

/>Butler finished the game with 20 points and six rebounds, while Kevin Jones added 12 points and four boards. Joe Mazzulla provided a spark off the bench that resulted in his starting the second half in place of Truck Bryant, who never stepped on the court in the final 20 minutes.

The Mountaineers got out to a sluggish start as they failed to connect on each of their first five shot attempts. By the first media timeout, WVU had scored just one point on a Kevin Jones free throw, but the Hoyas had not faired much better with only four of their own.

Out of the timeout, Greg Monroe began showing why he’s such a special talent. Two quick lay-ups, one that he drove in all the way from the three-point line, gave Georgetown a seven-point lead before the Mountaineers finally got their first field goal of the game – a Kevin Jones three-pointer just over six minutes into the half.

Monroe then found a cutting Austin Freeman who easily rose to the bucket for his first points against WVU this season.

Cam Thoroughman got the Mountaineers started on a run with a tough reverse lay-in that was followed by a Da’Sean Butler lay-up and a Wellington Smith three-pointer over Monroe that tied the game at 13 apiece.

West Virginia took the lead on two Joe Mazzulla free throws and pushed the margin to as many as six before Julian Vaughn and Hollis Thompson brought them back within one.

That’s when Butler decided it was time to reach a milestone. He gathered an Ebanks miss and rose up to lay it off the glass and in as he was fouled. The two points took him from 1,998 to 2,000 for his career, joining Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley as the only players in West Virginia basketball history to reach the plateau.

Along with Butler’s seven in the first half, Smith scored an impressive nine points – as many as he had scored in the quarterfinal and semifinal combined. He finished with 11.

West Virginia’s 32-28 lead at half time grew to eight after Butler slammed home a dunk and tossed in two free throws.

Smith continued his rampaged into the second period and had a triple double less than eight minutes in, but he missed much of the remaining action when he got in foul trouble and eventually left the game after his fifth personal.

It was a 7-0 run spanning 2:13 that got the Hoyas right back into what had been a nine-point game, leaving Huggins with no choice but to call a timeout to regroup. Butler responded with a huge three and a baseline runner out of the stoppage, which Jones followed with a jumper to bring the lead back to nine with just over seven minutes to go in the game. It would be West Virginia’s last field goal until Butler’s game-winner.

The Hoyas immediately climbed back in the game behind some great play by Freeman and two turnovers by Butler on the offensive end for WVU. The first resulted in a Freeman put back of a GU miss and the second led to Monroe getting fouled and making both free throws.

Casey Mitchell hit two free throws to put the Mountaineers ahead by three with just over a minute remaining, and Freeman immediately responded with a three-pointer that tied the game at 56.

Two Mazzulla free throws and a Chris Wright driving lay-up set the stage for Butler’s heroics.

The Mountaineers will no doubt celebrate deep into the morning hours in the city that never sleeps, but they’ve already focused their attention on what lies ahead.

“Six more games to a national championship,” said Smith on the court after the game. “We’re 2-0 in every tournament we’ve played so far. Why not make it 3-0?

“It’s an amazing feeling right now and I really don’t want this to end.”