Talk about a wing and a prayer.

"At some point," said WVU senior Joe Mazzulla, tracking the theme, "you've got to put it in God's hands. We played hard. We did everything we could do."

And the Mountaineers, almost miraculously, pushed past the No. 11 Cardinals on Senior Day, with the state's favorite son, Jerry West, in attendance, before a sellout crowd of 15,032 and an ESPN audience watching.

It's hard to imagine a finer regular-season ending for WVU, now 20-10 heading into the Big East tournament.

Kevin Jones, the Mountaineers' first-team preseason All-Big East pick, struggled to tap his potential for much of the season, but he finished with a flourish, scoring 25 points and pulling down 16 rebounds.

Mitchell, perhaps the Mountaineers' most talented - yet, at the same time, most frustrating - shooter, leaves the Coliseum on a high note.

Then there was Truck Bryant, who for most of Saturday - and most of the season - played with a loose steering wheel. Yet the junior guard calmly and confidently knocked down the game-winning free throws with six-tenths of a second remaining.

Perhaps the only conceivable scenario that would be better for WVU coach Bob Huggins is if his team was heading straight to the NCAA tournament instead of the Big East event.

"They believe they can win," Huggins said after the game.

Perhaps that's the case. There were, however, more than a few prayers answered Saturday to save Senior Day, which honored Cam Thoroughman, Mitchell, Jonnie West, Mazzulla and John Flowers.

Like when official Ed Corbett whistled a foul on Louisville's Preston Knowles with the aforementioned six-tenths of a second remaining.

"It was a controversial call," Flowers said. "We're just lucky enough that the ref had the guts to make that call."

(The ref certainly had more guts than U of L coach Rick Pitino, who refused to comment on the call or speak to the media after the game, other than to say he couldn't do so without criticizing the officials, a league no-no.)

Anyway, the end of Saturday's game was something to behold for WVU fans. And for them to remember. As the student section emptied onto the Coliseum court to celebrate, Flowers, who finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots, lay on his back with his arms over his eyes. He seemed overwhelmed.

"It was my last game at the Coliseum," Flowers said. "We got the win in a great, great game, my last game here. What a great way to go out.

"It was emotional. It just hit me all at once. It didn't hit me during the Senior Day ceremonies, but it hit me hard after the game."

It was a good win for WVU because the team is heading into the postseason. It will certainly help bolster the eventual NCAA seed. It showed the Mountaineers can defeat an athletic, pressing, running team with quick hands.

Perhaps most importantly, however, it was a good win because of that confidence factor.

There were some nice "senior" moments for the Mountaineers that are departing. Flowers blocked the shot of Chris Smith and Thoroughman hustled to save the ball. On the other end, Thoroughman hit a shot at the buzzer to give WVU a 32-30 halftime lead.

But there were also the boneheaded moves we've seen from West Virginia, like Bryant getting stripped of the ball, the ball being dunked by Louisville's Terrence Jennings and Thoroughman fouling. There were some more deer-in-the-headlights looks on offense and on inbounds passes.

Yet this victory could be a spark to WVU because of those key players in the upcoming tournaments. If Jones, Bryant and Mitchell rise up, the Mountaineers are definitely a Top 25 squad. They may be there when the new poll comes out Monday.

"This is definitely big," Jones said. "Casey hit the clutch shots. And Truck, I'd put him at the line anytime."

"For a guy like Casey," Mazzulla said, "to battle all year and then hit the shots at the end, what a great way to end his [home] career."

"I knew I had to calm down and relax," Mitchell said, "just shut everything else out."

Mitchell said he had a prayer answered when Louisville's Peyton Siva missed the front end of a two-shot free throw situation with 17 seconds remaining. It left the door open for a tie.

"I was like, 'Please miss one,' " Mitchell said. "I knew if he missed one, we had a chance."

The Mountaineer guard dished credit to Huggins for drawing up "some great plays" to spring the 3-point opportunities.

"I'd missed before and I didn't want to go out like that on Senior Night," Mitchell said. "I hit the game-winner against [Vanderbilt], but that game was tied. This one was better because we were down - and I'm a senior."

He said it was as if a weight had been lifted off his chest.

"Man, it felt so good inside," Mitchell said. "It felt so good to do this for the fans and the state. I haven't been playing well at home. This is a great thing for our fans to see me play well at home.

"It means a lot to do this for our fans and this state because they've been so good to me."

On Saturday, when it counted, Mitchell and the rest of the Mountaineers were good to them.

Reach Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827, mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or follow him at http://twitter.com/MitchVingle.