Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Texas' Kenton Paulino takes the winning shot of the game against West Virginia's Frank Young last night at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Click photo for larger image. Related articles West Virginia Notebook: Talent trumps LSU's overall inexperience Smizik: In the end, Texas beat West Virginia at its own game

ATLANTA -- Perhaps it was appropriate that the final play for West Virginia's stellar senior class involved a 3-point shot.

Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, the 3-pointer was made by the opposition and knocked them out of the NCAA tournament.

Texas senior Kenton Paulino made a 3-pointer as time expired last night to lift the Longhorns to a 74-71 win against the Mountaineers in an Atlanta regional semifinal at the Georgia Dome.

Texas (30-6) will face LSU (26-8) at 4:40 p.m. tomorrow for the right to go to the Final Four. The Tigers earned their spot in the regional final with a surprising 62-54 win against No. 1 seed Duke in the first game of the doubleheader at the Georgia Dome.

West Virginia (22-11), on the other hand, was forced to say goodbye to its sensational senior class that included J.D. Collins, Patrick Beilein, Kevin Pittsnogle, Joe Herber and Mike Gansey.

But the Mountaineers seniors did not go without a fight.

Before Paulino's long shot won the game, Pittsnogle had some heroics of his own.

Texas led, 70-68, with 13 seconds to play and had LaMarcus Aldridge standing at the free-throw line looking to push the Longhorns' lead to four points. But Aldridge made only one of his two free throws to give the Longhorns a 71-68 lead. He left the door open for the Mountaineers to tie the score with a 3-pointer.

Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Kevin Pittsnogle collects his thoughts as the Texas Longhorns celebrate after beating the Mountaineers last night. Click photo for larger image.

After a timeout, Herber then drove into the lane then turned and threw the ball back out to Pittsnogle, who was standing at the top of the key. Pittsnogle made a 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining to tie the score and seemingly force an overtime.

"Kevin is a great all-around player," said Aldridge, who finished with a game-high 26 points and also had 13 rebounds. "I knew he was going to be a tough matchup coming into the game. I just tried to contest that last shot and I did contest it, but he made a shot like he always does."

Texas coach Rick Barnes added: "I've been on the end of one of these like this and I know it is gut-wrenching when you lose a game like that. For that team to fight the way they fought, it was impressive."

After Pittsnogle's shot, Texas quickly inbounded the ball to freshman guard A.J. Abrams, who pushed the ball up the court then hit Paulino with a pass. Paulino caught it and hit a tough shot over the outstretched arms of Frank Young.

Paulino said it was the first buzzer-beater he has made and it couldn't have come at a better time.

"The play was designed that way," Paulino said. "If they hit a 3, we just wanted to get the ball out quick and run it down the floor. A.J. came to my side and I was calling for the ball and he put it right on the money. I just shot it. When it left my hand, it felt good but I had no idea it was going in. Luckily, it went in."

The Mountaineers fought valiantly, but there were a few things they couldn't overcome. One was Aldridge, a 6-foot-11 future NBA lottery pick. Another was P.J. Tucker, who scored 15 and had 14 rebounds. Together Tucker and Aldridge led a dominating assault on the glass for Texas, which outrebounded West Virginia, 45-16.

"To get outrebounded by almost 30 is crazy, that's too much," Gansey said. "We did that and yet we were right there in the end and lost by only three points. We certainly needed to do a better job boxing out and keeping Aldridge out of the lane. He's a great player and when he's hitting that little fade-away jumper there is very little we could do to stop him.

"I thought we showed a lot of heart, we showed a lot of character but we just needed to do a few things a little better to beat that team."

West Virginia trailed by 12 at the half and began the second half on an 8-0 run to pull to within 39-35 and then made it 49-47 after a Herber free throw. The Mountaineers tied the score, 58-58, on a 3-pointer by Pittsnogle with 7:53 to play.

West Virginia took its first lead since early in the game on a 3-pointer by Gansey with 7:20 to play. Mike Williams then hit a free throw to spark a 7-0 Texas run that was broken by Herber, whose layup with 3:30 to play pulled West Virginia within 65-63.

The two teams traded baskets, then Aldridge and Abrams made three of four free throws to give Texas a 70-65 lead, with 27 seconds to play. Gansey then hit a 3-pointer to set up the final heroics by both teams.

Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Kevin Pittsnogle sits on the floor of the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, after being elbowed in the face near the end of the game last night against Texas.