New York, NY -- Randy Foye scored 23 points and Allan Ray added 18, leading 19th-ranked Villanova to a 67-58 victory over No. 22 Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Curtis Sumpter chipped in 17 points for the fourth-seeded Wildcats (22-6), who have won eight in a row and will face West Virginia in Friday's semifinals. The Mountaineers upset top-seeded Boston College in the day's first quarterfinal.

Villanova will play in the Big East semifinals for the second straight year, but hasn't reached the championship game since losing to Boston College in 1997 and hasn't won it all since 1995.

"Last year we came here, we played pretty well but we lost in the semis. Over the summer and the preseason, throughout the season, you know, we just kept working hard. We knew we wanted to be here at this point in time, ready to play. That's what we did," said Sumpter.

Pittsburgh (20-8) had played in the last four Big East championship games, winning in 2003. The Panthers have lost four of their last six games, but are still a likely lock for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Carl Krauser scored 18 points to lead Pittsburgh, while Chris Taft added 10. First-team All-Big East performer Chevon Troutman missed each of his five field goal attempts and finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.

"They [Villanova] were just all over, making it real hard to pass the ball inside or get the ball wherever you needed it to go," said Troutman. "We made good passes, but we just didn't finish at the bucket."

In a slow-moving first half, neither team managed a basket until 3:45 into the game when Ray scored in the paint. Ray then hit a three-pointer a minute later and back-to-back shots from beyond the arc by Foye gave Villanova a 13-6 lead.

Pittsburgh pulled within three a couple of times over the next few minutes, the last at 19-16 on a Krauser free throw with 6 1/2 minutes to play in the half.

Villanova answered with a 12-2 run, opening a 31-18 advantage with 1:20 left on a three-pointer by Ray. A Krauser free throw in the final minute sent the Panthers into the break down by 12.

Pittsburgh shot a dismal 20 percent in the first half, making just 5-of-25 attempts, and didn't have a field goal for the final 8:45. The Panthers were also 0-for-5 from three-point range and committed 11 turnovers.

"They were very aggressive; that's how they play," said Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon. "In the first half we shot 20-percent. That's not going to put you in a good spot often times. We need to shoot it better, do a lot of things better than we did today against a very good team."

Villanova shot just 30 percent, but managed to hit 4-of-14 from beyond the arc.

The Wildcats extended their lead to 17 early in the second half, as three free throws by Ray made it a 40-23 game, but Pittsburgh clawed its way back and used a 10-2 run to trim its deficit to single digits.

A three-pointer by Antonio Graves with 7:48 left pulled the Panthers within 46-39, but Sumpter answered with a three-pointer and another bucket on consecutive possessions to push the Villanova advantage back to 12.

The lead reached 16 with 3:56 remaining on a jumper by Sumpter and Pittsburgh got only as close as nine after a three-pointer by Graves with 1:19 to play made it a 61-52 game.

"That was one of those old-school Big East games," said Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "That was a blood bath. We couldn't run offense. We defended well. They got into us. It just took some great players making great plays for us."

Game Notes:

Pittsburgh made just 3-of-17 three-point tries and committed 18 turnovers to Villanova's nine...The Panthers also held a 45-32 rebounding edge...Villanova also won the only meeting of the season, 80-72 on February 20, and leads the all-time series 29-24.