NEW YORK - Mike Gansey's wild reverse layup in the first half looked like a lock to be his craziest shot of the night.

That was way before the West Virginia forward was under the basket with less than a second left.

Gansey got fouled as he tried to put in a game-winning layup and made both free throws with .2 seconds remaining Friday night to give West Virginia a stunning 78-76 victory over No. 19 Villanova in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.

The Mountaineers (21-9) will face Syracuse Saturday in a very unlikely championship game. West Virginia is the first No. 8 seed to play for the Big East title and will be making its first appearance in the final.

"I would have never imagined this coming into this tournament," Gansey said. "We were trying to hopefully win a game or two to get into the NCAA tournament."

Mission accomplished.

West Virginia knocked off Providence in the first round Wednesday, then reached the semifinals by beating No. 7 Boston College, the tournament's top seed, Thursday.

No team has ever won four straight days to capture the Big East crown, but West Virginia will have a chance to do it against the No. 16 Orange.

"The way we've been playing, our team chemistry, we played probably the best we ever have all year," Gansey said. "It's just unbelievable."

Syracuse, the third seed, reached the title game Friday night by holding on for a 67-63 win over No. 12 Connecticut in a matchup of the past two NCAA champions.

Connecticut had won 10 straight conference games and even as the second seed was considered the tournament favorite.

But the defending champions were knocked out by Syracuse, making its first final appearance since losing to UConn in 1998.

"It seemed for a long time there we got to the finals every year," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I think we took it for granted. It has been a while, but it's nice to be there."

In the first half against Villanova, it didn't look like it was going to be another special night for the Mountaineers.

After falling behind 23-13 about 9 minutes in, West Virginia began connecting from 3-point range against the conference's best defenders beyond the arc.

The Mountaineers made five 3s during a 29-8 run that gave them a lead they didn't relinquish until Villanova went ahead 74-73 with 30.7 seconds remaining.

Gansey, who finished with a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds, made believers in a packed Madison Square Garden crowd that didn't expect to see the Mountaineers on the floor during the showcase semifinal doubleheader.

He brought fans out of their seats when he took a pretty pass from Patrick Beilein - the coach's son - drove to the hoop and spun in a layup from the other side of the rim as Villanova's 6-foot-10 Jason Fraser came at him.

"That's I guess my patented move," Gansey said. "I have one move, my reverse layup. A lot of times I do reverse layup when I have a wide-open layup. It just so happened I did that, and it luckily went in."

That made it an eight-point run and got West Virginia to 23-21.

With his late heroics from the foul line, he now will likely be remembered for a far easier shot.

Gansey, a 72 percent foul shooter this season, drained both after being surprised to get the call from the officials when he was hit by Allan Ray.

"I just went up for a layup and they called a foul," Gansey said. "I was like 'Oh my gosh' I looked up at the clock and it was .2 and I thought 'I can't believe I'm in this situation.'

"It's the best experience I've ever had. I can't explain it."

Randy Foye had 22 points for Villanova (22-7), which had an eight-game winning streak snapped. The Wildcats' last championship game appearance was in 1997. They haven't won since 1995.

They are in line for their first invitation to the NCAA tournament since 1999.