West Virginia made sure Boston College’s last appearance in the Big East tournament was brief.

Mike Gansey scored 21 points and West Virginia hung on to upset no. 7 Boston College 78-72 in the quarterfinals yesterday at Madison Square Garden, ruining the Eagles’ bid for a final conference championship.

Center Kevin Pittsnogle added 17 points for the Mountaineers (20-9), who very likely wrapped up at least an NCAA tournament at-large bid by impressing the selection committee with the surprising win over the Big East’s top seed.

“That committee is so thorough with this thing and they will choose the right teams,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said. “Obviously, I’m biased, but they will choose the right teams and there’s no doubt in our minds that we’re one of the right teams.”

West Virginia, the no. 8 seed, improved to 3-8 in the tournament and advanced to its first semifinals, where it will face Villanova tonight. Making the win even more impressive was the fact that the Mountaineers did it without top scorer Tyrone Sally, who missed the game with a stomach ailment.

Craig Smith scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Boston College (24-4), which leaves the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference after this season.

The Eagles, who shared the regular season title with Connecticut, sputtered through their last eight games, going just 4-4 after starting 20-0 and possibly hurting their chances at earning a top-3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Mountaineers took their biggest lead – 25 points – 19 seconds into the second half on Gansey’s three-point play that made it 47-22.Trailing 50-26, Boston College went on a 10-0 run, capped by consecutive dunks by Sean Marshall to get the Eagles within 14 at 50-36.

The Eagles continued to whittle away at the lead, but the 6-foot-11 Pittsnogle hit a 3-pointer with 8:16 left to make it 58-44.

“Guys have to take a little pride in themselves and with their team and go out and work harder,” Boston College coach Al Skinner said. “It’s just that simple. Our preparation, our focus has got to be there. Right now, it’s lacking.”

***

VILLANOVA 67, PITTSBURGH 58 In other quarterfinal action last night, Randy Foye scored 23 points and no. 19 Villanova won its eighth straight game beating no. 22 Pittsburgh 67-58. The Wildcats (22-6) advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year. where they will face West Virginia.

The loss ended Pittsburgh’s four-year run of championship game appearances. The Panthers’ only title in that span came in 2003.

Pittsburgh (20-8) entered the game as the second-best shooting team in the conference at 47.8%, but the Panthers shot a season-worst 35% (20-for-57) against Villanova, going 5-for-25 in the first half.

Villanova pushed the lead to 17 points twice, the last time at 42-25 on two free throws by Foye with 13:15 left

Pittsburgh finally started to hit some shots and after missing its first nine 3-point attempts, Carl Krauser and Antonio Graves made consecutive 3s to get the Panthers within 46-39.

But West Virginia’s Curtis Sumpter who had 17 points, hit a 3 on the next possession and then a long jumper to start a 13-4 run.

Villanova has a 6-1 all-time record against Pitt in the Big East tournament The Wildcats beat Pittsburgh 80-72 in the teams’ only meeting this season.

***

UCONN 66, GEORGETOWN 62

Connecticut, despite making just one field goal over the final 5 minutes, hung on to beat Georgetown 66-62 in the third quarterfinal game.

The second-seeded and 12th-ranked Huskies (22-6) advanced to today’s semifinals to play Syracuse.

Connecticut has been in the last three championship games, winning the title in 2002 and 2004, and has reached the semifinals in seven of the last eight years. The Huskies had to sweat this one out as they won their seventh straight and 10th of 11.

Freshman Rudy Gay had 17 points for the Huskies, while Marcus Williams had 14 points and 10 assists. Ashanti Cook had 17 points for the Hoyas and Brandon Bowman added 15.

Connecticut led 55-43 with 9:46 to play on a 3-pointer by Williams. But seventh-seeded Georgetown (17-12) stayed close despite UConnn shooting 54%.

Ray Reed’s drive with 2:48 left brought the Hoyas within 62-57. Josh Boone then scored on a reverse with 1:17 left – the Huskies’ lone field goal over the final 5:15 – to make it 64-57.

Bowman made two free throws for Georgetown with 57 seconds to go. Connecticut’s Charlie Villanueva turned the ball over and Darrel Owens, the hero of the Hoyas’ opening-round win, hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to make it a two-point game.

With the sellout crowd cheering in favor the Hoyas, Gay missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 25 seconds left. Georgetown worked for a final shot, but Cook’s jumper with 4 seconds left bounced off the rim.

***

SYRACUSE 81, RUTGERS 57 Gerry McNamara scored 25 points and Hakeem Warrick added 23 to lead Syracuse to an 81-57 victory over Rutgers in last night’s final quarterfinal game.

The third-seeded and 16th-ranked Orange (25-6) will play second-seeded and 12th-ranked Connecticut in the semifinals today. The Huskies swept the Orange this season, including an 88-70 victory last Saturday.

Warrick, the conference’s player of the year, grabbed 13 rebounds as Syracuse, which was last in the semifinals in 2003 when it went on to win the national championship, had a 43-32 advantage on the boards.

McNamara, a first-team all-conference pick, was 6-for-9 from the field, including 6-for-8 from 3-point range, and 7-for-7 at the free throw line.

Quincy Douby had 14 points to lead Rutgers (10-19), which upset Notre Dame 72-65 in the opening round. The Scarlet Knights were trying to reach the semifinals for just the second time in school history. They got there in 1999.

McNamara hit a 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 run that gave Syracuse a 22-10 lead with 13:53 left in the first half. The Orange pushed to a 47-22 lead at halftime.

Rutgers used an 8-0 run to get within 64-49 in the second half, but McNamara hit 3s on consecutive possessions to end the run and the Scarlet Knights didn’t get closer than 19 points the rest of the way.

In the teams’ only meeting this season, Syracuse won 86-84 at Rutgers after overcoming an 18-point halftime deficit.

BIG EAST RESULTS

FIRST ROUND: WEDNESDAY

(8) West Virginia 82, (9) Providence 59 (7) Georgetown 56, (10) Seton Hall 51 (11) Rutgers 72, (6) Notre Dame 65

QUARTERFINALS: YESTERDAY

(8) W. Virginia 78, (1) Boston College 72 (4) Villanova 67, (5) Pittsburgh 58 (2) UConn 66, (7) Georgetown 62 (3) Syracuse 81, (11) Rutgers 57

SEMIFINALS: TODAY

(8) West Virginia vs. (4) Villanova (ESPN, 7 p.m.) (2) UConn vs. (3) Syracuse (ESPN, 9 p.m.)

FINAL: TOMORROW

Saturday, 8 p.m. (ESPN)