NEW YORK -- Da'Sean Butler was the hero Thursday when his buzzer-beater bank shot gave West Virginia a close-shave victory against Cincinnati in a Big East Conference tournament semifinal game.

Butler did not wait until the last second to win a game Friday for his team. His superb play throughout a semifinal game against Notre Dame gives the Mountaineers a crack at their first conference championship at 9 p.m. today against Georgetown.

Butler scored 24 points to lead West Virginia to a 53-51 victory at Madison Square Garden. Butler, a first-team all-conference selection, sparked the Mountaineers in the first half and then took charge again in the second with his sweet stroke from the outside.

With the victory, West Virginia (26-6) will play in the Big East tournament championship game for the second time in school history. The Mountaineers, who joined the Big East in 1995, lost to Syracuse in the 2005 title game.

The Mountaineers will play Georgetown after the Hoyas defeated Marquette, 80-57, in the first semifinal game.

"It would mean the world to me because it would be our first one and I was part of the team," Butler said. "It would mean I was part of something special. That's something coach [Bob Huggins] has been talking about all year. If you want to be special you have to do special things. You can't just have good talent, a great coach and great schemes and come up with nothing. We have to win things, win special tournaments. So this is an opportunity for us to do something special in the Big East. Hopefully, we take advantage."

West Virginia has more than making school history on the line against the Hoyas. The Mountaineers are still in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

West Virginia exorcised some demons against the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is hardly known as a basketball school, but the Irish had won 14 of the previous 17 meetings between the two schools, including a 70-68 victory earlier this season at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame won five consecutive games and advanced to a semifinal game by running a snail's-pace offense that dictated the tempo of games. After some early success with the same approach against West Virginia, Huggins decided to throw the Irish a curveball to get the game to a more favorable pace for his team.

Huggins went to a 1-3-1 zone defense that forced Notre Dame out of its rhythm. That sparked a 13-3 run that turned the game in West Virginia's favor.

Notre Dame made only one field goal in 11 1/2 minutes, and Butler led the offensive charge to give the Mountaineers the lead. Butler scored 9 of his 11 first-half points in a little more than six minutes. His basket with 10:01 remaining in the half gave the Mountaineers their first lead, 10-9. His 3-pointer with 6:48 remaining gave the Mountaineers a 17-12 lead.

"We've had success with it in the past," Huggins said. "The lineup we had in there at the time plays the 1-3-1 pretty well. I thought it was effective."

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said he expected Huggins to play some zone, but the Irish took too long to adjust.

West Virginia led, 26-23, at halftime and boosted that lead to nine with 12:02 remaining after Butler scored eight points in a three-minute span. His third 3-pointer of the game gave the Mountaineers a 39-30 lead.

The Irish had one more run in them, and it almost led to a sterling comeback. Notre Dame was able to cut the lead to three with 3:32 remaining after Ben Hansbrough made 3-pointers 39 seconds apart. Those big shots set up a crazy finish.

West Virginia sophomore Devin Ebanks was called for a charge with 2:59 remaining. Joe Mazzulla then fouled Tory Jackson on the ensuing possession, and Jackson pulled the Irish to within one point after making two free throws.

Mazzulla responded at the other end with a layup to restore the three-point lead with 2:41 remaining.

After Jackson missed a 3-pointer, Kevin Jones was fouled and made two free throws with 1:56 remaining to make it 52-47.

Hansbrough came back and scored 20 seconds later to cut the lead to three again. But Butler made another big play to help seal the game. He pulled down an offensive rebound with 1:02 remaining and was fouled. He made one of two free throws to make it a four-point game. Hansbrough made two free throws with 47 seconds left to make it 53-51. Jackson had a chance to give Notre Dame the victory with a 3-point attempt as the clock ticked down, but it hit the front of the iron.

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NOTES -- Georgetown will be playing in its 13 conference championship game. The Hoyas, who are the second No. 8 seed to advance to a Big East title game, have won a Big East record seven championships. They will be playing for the championship for the third time in the past four years. ... Notre Dame (23-11) was attempting to reach the championship game for the first time. The Fighting Irish were knocked out in the semifinal round for the third time.

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