West Virginia guard Darris Nichols, center, defended by Northwestern State forward Clifton Lee, left, and guard Tyronn Mitchell, passes the ball in the first half of their NCAA men's second round college basketball game Sunda in Auburn Hills, Mich. The Mountaineers won the game, 67-54.

DAYTON, Ohio — Roy Williams had an inkling this could happen. So did Thad Matta.

Turns out, both coaches were right.

Dayton became the final stop Sunday for Williams' defending national champions and Matta's second-seeded Buckeyes. Both went down to teams that are on rolls at the right time, ones with interesting stories to tell in the round of 16.

There's George Mason, the at-large team from the overlooked conference that proved it belongs in the tournament. The Patriots turned third-seeded North Carolina a whole different shade of blue with a 65-60 victory.

Williams saw it coming.

"I was scared to death, to be honest with you," he said after yet another second-round setback.

Then, second-seeded Ohio State got its comeuppance from a Georgetown team that is rekindling memories of the old days, beating the Buckeyes 70-52 behind a dominating performance from a huge front line that couldn't be stopped.

"We disguised for 32 games what our weakness was," Matta said, referring to Ohio State's lack of size. "Our offense helped us disguise it a lot of times."

There would be no smoke-and-mirrors Sunday.

Since the NCAA tournament went to its current seeding format in 1979, a total of 73 games were played at UD Arena, which is also the site for the play-in game that gets the tournament started each year.

For the first time in all those years, both of the higher-seeded teams lost in the second round in Dayton.

A surprise? Not really. George Mason and Georgetown were the perfect pair to pull it off.

The Patriots (25-7) weren't even sure they'd make the tournament when they lost in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals.

West Virginia 67, Northwestern St. 54

Kevin Pittsnogle scored 14 points and was one of four West Virginia players in double figures in a 67-54 victory over tiny Northwestern State, giving the sixth-seeded Mountaineers two wins in consecutive NCAAs for the first time since 1959-60 — when Jerry West was flicking jumpers for them.

West Virginia (22-10) will play second-seeded Texas (29-6) on Thursday in an Atlanta Regional semifinal. The Longhorns beat the Mountaineers 76-75 on Nov. 21 at a tournament in Kansas City, Mo.