COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Devin Williams had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and West Virginia scored 16 second-chance points to beat fourth-seeded Maryland 69-59 in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.
Next up: A showdown with top-ranked Kentucky in the Sweet 16. The fifth-seeded Mountaineers (25-9) will take on the undefeated Wildcats on Thursday night in the Midwest Regional semifinals in Cleveland.
Gary Browne scored 14 points and Daxter Miles Jr. had 12 as West Virginia advanced to the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 2010, when it went all the way to the Final Four.
Melo Trimble had 15 points for Maryland (28-7), but sat on the bench for the final 8:25 after he was hurt for the third time in the game.
Maryland was trying to advance to the round of 16 for the first time since 2003 - a year after the Terps won the national championship under coach Gary Williams.
The teams were locked in a close battle until West Virginia used its gritty pressure defense and physical play to pull away from the Terrapins.
Devin Williams scored off an offensive rebound to make it 49-46. The next time down the floor, after a Maryland miss, Tarik Phillip, who hit the clinching 3 late in the shot clock with 29 seconds left against Buffalo on Friday, had his shot blocked. But he got it back and powered it in with 10:08 left.
Moments later, Staten threw a 60-foot pass to Miles behind the defense for a layup. On the play, Trimble ended up getting kicked in the head by a teammate and had to be helped to the bench. He sat there for the rest of the game with his head down.
On the ensuing inbounds play, the Mountaineers covered everybody, resulting in a 5-second call that got the West Virginia faithful as excited as most fan bases do when someone gets a long 3 or a vicious dunk.
Phillip then stole a pass and fed Miles for a dunk and the large WVU contingent went crazy as the lead reached 55-46 with 7:15 left.
With Trimble - first-team All-Big Ten and the team’s leading scorer at 16.3 points a game - watching from the end of the bench, the Terrapins were in deep trouble.
After Maryland cut the deficit to five, Jevon Carter responded with a 3 for WVU with 4:18 left.
The Mountaineers were content the rest of the way to put the ball in the hands of guards Gary Browne and Staten, killing time around the perimeter.
TIP-INS
West Virginia: The Mountaineers came in leading the nation in steals (350), steals per game (10.9) and offensive rebounds (16.8). … They were making their 26th NCAA appearance, dating to 1955. … They are now 21-0 when holding opponents under 70 points. … West Virginia was 344th of the 345 teams in Division I in fouls committed.
Maryland: The Terrapins figured to have a big advantage at the line and in fouls. They came in 14th in the nation in free-throw percentage (.757) and 32nd in free throws attempted (777). But they only got to the line 13 times (hitting nine).
UP NEXT
West Virginia takes on mighty Kentucky in Cleveland.
Maryland returns three starters, losing seniors Richard Pack and Wells.
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