SOUTH BEND, Ind. — West Virginia played physical, kept the tempo at a preferred slower pace and was rebounding aggressively for most of the first half Tuesday night. That’s why the Mountaineers were within two points of No. 20 Notre Dame at the break.

In the second half the flow got away from them. And so did the game.

Notre Dame broke out with a 17-4 run starting the second half and then it was a runaway as the Irish coasted to a 71-44 victory.

“They got us in transition and then we panicked and took quick shots,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said.

“Quick shots and bad shots — that’s a recipe for what happened. We got so many young guys that they panicked. ... We’re not athletic. We’re probably the most non-athletic team in the league. When you’re non-athletic you start taking some quick shots and all of a sudden they’re running at you, you’ve got problems.”

The Mountaineers (17-11, 7-8 Big East) had plenty of them as they lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Kevin Jones had 15 points for West Virginia, which shot just 31.5 percent and made only 6 of 27 field goal attempts after halftime. And the Mountaineers misfired on 10 of their 11 3-point attempts.