Demons just come up short against Mountaineers

ROSEMONT—Casey Mitchell scored 18 points, and West Virginia beat DePaul 67-65 after blowing a 14-point lead in the second half on Tuesday night.With a 58-44 lead with about 10 minutes remaining, the Mountaineers (9-4, 1-2) appeared to be in good shape after opening Big East play with losses to St. John’s and Marquette. Instead, they couldn’t hang on against the conference’s worst team.Things got real interesting in the closing minutes when the Blue Demon’s Jeremiah Kelly buried a 3-pointer after a turnover to make it a two-point game and then hit another with 1:30 left to tie it at 63 with about 1:30 left after a free throw by Cam Thoroughman.Darryl Bryant answered with a three-point play to give West Virginia a three-point lead. DePaul’s Brandon Young hit two free throws with 49.9 seconds left to make it 66-65, but the Mountaineers hung on.John Flowers hit the second of two free throws with 0.9 seconds left after Young missed a jumper from the wing, sending DePaul (6-9, 0-3) to its 16th straight loss against conference opponents.