WASHINGTON -- Bob Huggins has made a living out of rebuilding basketball programs in a short time and leading them to the NCAA tournament.

This year was no different.

Huggins scrapped the 1-3-1 defensive scheme utilized by his predecessor, John Beilein, and instituted an aggressive, man-to-man defense.

Huggins also put a heavy emphasis on improving one of Division I's worst rebounding teams.

Still, Huggins owes a big thanks to Beilein for recruiting a pile of shooters -- guys who can convert 3-pointers from just about everywhere on the court.

Seventh-seeded West Virginia hit 11 of 19 3-pointers last night en route to a 75-65 victory against 10th-seeded Arizona in the first round of the NCAA tournament West Region at the Verizon Center.

"We have a bunch of really good shooters -- we've been just waiting for them to break out," Huggins said.

Because of their long-range shooting, the Mountaineers (25-10) advanced to second round tomorrow in the West Region, where they will meet second-seeded Duke (28-5) at 2:10 p.m.

The Blue Devils barely held on to beat No. 15 Belmont, 71-70.

"They have a great tradition, it should be a great game," West Virginia guard Darris Nichols said.

The Mountaineers tied their season high with 11 3-pointers.

Alex Ruoff scored 21 points and Da'Sean Butler had 19, to go along with seven rebounds. Butler made 9 of 13 shots from the field and one 3-pointer, while Ruoff was 8 of 11, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.

Nichols and leading scorer Joe Alexander, who had averaged 26.8 points in his previous six games, pitched in with 14 each for West Virginia, which hit 8 of its first 12 3-pointers and shot 50.9 percent from the floor (28 of 55).

"I think we have all been kind of standing around and watching Joe perform the last couple of weeks," Ruoff said. "Tonight we decided to join in and help him out. We shot the ball pretty well all night."

Arizona (19-15) pulled to within 60-59 with 4:45 left in the second half, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Nichols and Ruoff sealed the win.

"We knew we had the game under control after that," Nichols said.

West Virginia, which has 10 freshmen or sophomores on its 15-man roster, improved to 11-2 in its past 13 postseason games.

Chase Budinger had a game-high 23 points for the Wildcats, while Jordan Hill added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Ruoff held one of Division I's top freshman guards, Arizona's Jerryd Bayless, to just 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

"I just worked as hard as I could to try and take away his opportunities," Ruoff said.

Huggins is just the second West Virginia coach to take his first team to a NCAA tournament -- Fred Schaus was the first in 1955.

He is coaching in his 16th NCAA tournament and has won 21 games with five schools. Four times his teams have reached the Sweet 16.

"We played really well," Huggins said. "It was a good win. But we won't get much time to enjoy it. We have to start getting ready for Duke."

West Virginia held a narrow 31-30 lead at halftime. Although Alexander's two free throws gave the Mountaineers a 31-29 lead with four seconds left, Arizona had a chance to tie the score after Alexander fouled Bayless with 0.3 seconds to go. But Bayless missed the back end of a two-shot foul.

Butler led the Mountaineers with 11 points in first half, hitting 5 of 7 shots. Ruoff had eight points, making 3 of 4.

West Virginia shot 46.2 percent from the field (11 of 24) in the opening 20 minutes, and 71.4 percent from 3-point range (5 of 7). Arizona shot 45.8 percent from the field (11 of 24) from the field and a paltry 16.7 percent from beyond the arc (1 of 6).

West Virginia had cruised to a rather comfortable 25-17 lead 15 minutes into the game, thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers. Joe Mazzulla hit two, while Nichols, Butler and Ruoff made one each.