NEW YORK - Roy Hibbert went from scoring a season low to a season high, and has ninth-ranked Georgetown playing for another Big East tournament championship.

Georgetown's Roy Hibbert (55) dunks the ball on West Virginia's Wellington Smith (35) in the first half of a Big East Semifinal basketball game Friday, March 14, 2008 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

The 7-foot-2 center had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and Georgetown withstood West Virginia's only big run midway through the second half to beat the Mountaineers 72-55 in the semifinals Friday night.

Georgetown (27-4) led 51-47 with just over 11 minutes left, but the Mountaineers didn't get another basket until Joe Alexander scored with 3:13 to go. By then, Hibbert and the Hoyas had a 20-point lead and were thinking about a date with either seventh-seeded Pittsburgh or No. 6 seed Marquette in Saturday night's title game.

Georgetown went to the perimeter in its quarterfinal victory over Villanova, matching a tournament record with 17 3-pointers. Hibbert had perhaps the worst game of his career in that one, going scoreless and managing just four rebounds before fouling out.

A different day, a much different stat line.

After 7-footer Jamie Smalligan picked up two early fouls, the defensive assignment of the all-Big East center fell to Alexander, who was giving up six inches in the post and had a tough time stopping the big man's array of spin moves, follows and rim-rattling dunks.

Hibbert scored 11 points in the 7 minutes Smalligan was on the bench in the first half, including just his third career 3-pointer from the top of the key that had West Virginia coach Bob Huggins throwing his hands up in exasperation.

By the time Smalligan checked back in, Georgetown was on its way to building a 33-21 halftime lead that it pushed to 15 points on Jonathan Wallace's 3 early in the second half.

West Virginia countered with its best stretch of the tournament.

Alex Ruoff's 3-pointer with 18:50 to go energized its bench, and his 3-pointer 6 minutes later was the 10th straight possession that the Mountaineers came away with points.

That's when they went cold, clanking shots off the iron and turning the ball over with silly passess and sloppy dribbling, allowing the Hoyas to pull away for their eighth win in the last nine Big East tournament games.

Jessie Sapp continued his marvelous tournament, scoring 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting. He hit six 3s and had a career-high 23 points in the quarterfinals.

Da'Sean Butler had 16 points for the Mountaineers (24-10), who at least eased off the NCAA tournament bubble with two wins in the league tournament. Ruoff finished with 12 points.

Nearly every Georgetown player had a hand in defending Alexander, who scored 22 in the Mountaineers' tournament opener and a career-high 34 points to help them upend No. 15 Connecticut in the quarterfinals.

DaJuan Summers and Patrick Ewing Jr. got the call on the versatile 6-foot-8 forward most of the night, constantly pushing, shoving and grabbing at him while contesting every shot. He rarely got the ball in the post and often had two or three Hoyas watching him as soon as he crossed midcourt.

Alexander missed six of his first eight shots against the nation's best field-goal percentage defense, and his first make came only after he faked Summers right off his feet on a nifty spin move in the paint. He finished with 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting.

Defense has become a hallmark of Georgetown under coach John Thompson III.

It was the 22nd time this season the Hoyas have held an opponent under 60 points, and they improved to 51-4 when scoring at least 69 points.