Half of the Big East is already ranked. West Virginia is pushing to make it nine out of 16 for the most competitive league in the country.

Da'Sean Butler scored 27 points and the Mountaineers forced 19 turnovers to upset No. 12 Georgetown on its homecourt, 75-58 on Thursday night.

The Mountaineers (14-4, 3-2) were picked to finish ninth in a tough conference and have cracked the Top 25 once this season. Their only two losses in their last 10 games came against ranked Big East foes Connecticut and Marquette.

Butler said coach Bob Huggins has been reminding his players that they're the ninth-best team in the conference.

"Coach Huggins, if he doesn't like the way we're practicing, he says: 'You guys are practicing like your ninth. You need to step it up.' Things like that," Butler said. "We're just going to use that as motivation for the rest of the season."

Told that his ploy was working, Huggins said: "That's not a ploy. You look around this league; this league's so hard. We want to get in the NCAA tournament and make another run."

In other ranked games Thursday, it was: No. 13 UCLA 61, Washington State 61-59; No. 16. Butler 68, Wisconsin-Green Bay 68; No. 18 Purdue 70, No. 21 Minnesota 62; No. 23 Gonzaga 83, Pepperdine 69.

In a game in which nearly every basket was hard-earned — and steals were sometimes canceled out by quick counter-steals — Butler stood out by going 11-for-18 from the field for West Virginia. The Mountaineers shot 58 percent in the second half to pull away, while the No. 1 scoring defense in the Big East limited the Hoyas to 33 percent shooting after the break.