David Smith / AP

“You have guys asking where the toughest place to play is, and hands down for me, it’s West Virginia,” said Scottie Reynolds, who had averaged nine points in three previous games against the Mountaineers, including two losses in Morgantown.

West Virginia couldn’t feed off the capacity crowd, leading only in the game’s opening minutes. The Mountaineers picked up their defensive intensity after halftime, holding Villanova without a field goal for the first 6 minutes. But West Virginia did little on offense to get going.

Villanova held West Virginia under 50 percent shooting from the field for the 11th straight game. West Virginia was just 7 of 27 from 3-point range and shot poorly from the free-throw line, finishing 18 of 32.

“We really played as a unit defensively,” Wright said. “We really covered for each other and played unselfishly. When we had to switch, we switched. We got down against Georgetown and lost our composure and started scrambling. Tonight, we really kept good composure defensively.”

Every time West Virginia was poised to make a run, the 6-foot-2 Reynolds was there to answer against a West Virginia lineup that at times averaged 6-7.

“There were times when I was the smallest guy on the floor,” he said.

Reynolds didn’t get a specific pep talk or instructions from Wright about taking over. The opportunities just came to him.

“He wanted everyone to continue to be aggressive,” Reynolds said. “All five guys needed to be aggressive so they couldn’t play on one person or two.”

Limited to two points in the first half, Reynolds hit a 3-pointer and converted two three-point plays over a 3-minute span to push Villanova’s lead to 58-47 with 10:28 remaining.

Casey Mitchell gave West Virginia a flicker of hope with a long 3-pointer and free throw with 2 minutes left to bring the Mountaineers within 74-69, but Villanova converted six of eight free throws in the final minute and made 19 of 22 overall.

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