College basketball

West Virginia stumbles again, falls to LSU on late 3-pointer

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Darel Mitchell made sure not to be bothered by a little extra defense when he took the most important shot of the game.

Mitchell scored a game-high 26 points, including the final 3-pointers in regulation and overtime. The latter swished through on a highly contested shot from deep in the corner with 5.3 seconds left to give LSU a 71-68 win over No. 13 West Virginia on Saturday.

"I kind of knew when I let it go that it was going to hit," Mitchell said. "A guy got his hand up, but it didn't affect me."

The winning shot was Mitchell's fifth 3-pointer of the game. LSU (3-0) made six total.

"If he was off-balance, I hope he keeps shooting that way," LSU coach John Brady said.

With five seniors, four starting, the Mountaineers (2-3) were expected to build upon their first trip to the final eight of NCAA tournament since 1959.

Instead, West Virginia lost its third consecutive nonconference game for the first time in 25 years.

"It's been a long time since we lost three in a row," West Virginia coach John Beilein said. "It's hard to bounce back, but it's my job to get these guys to do that."

Mitchell and 310-pound forward Glenn Davis sliced through West Virginia's defense and hit more than 50 percent of their shots from the field.

Glen Davis had 23 points, six in overtime, and 14 rebounds for LSU.

The game was played before the first November sellout crowd in the 35-year history of the 14,000-seat Coliseum.

West Virginia retired Jerry West's No.44 during the game. West, the model for the NBA logo, led the Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA final. West was selected as one of the NBA's top 50 all-time players and won an Olympic gold medal. He still holds 19 West Virginia records, including scoring per game, per season and total all-time scoring and rebounds.

A unanimous All-America selection in 1959 and 1960, West and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979.

"I'm sorry to West Virginia for being a distraction," West said after the halftime ceremony, at which point LSU was up 37-27.

PITTSBURGH 62, MAINE 49: Aaron Gray had 15 points a career-high 13 rebounds to lead the host Panthers (3-0).

It was the second double-double in three games since for Gray, a 7-foot junior who also had four blocks.

ST. JOHN'S 67, NIAGARA 61: Darryl Hill scored 14 of his 16 in the second half, and Lamont Hamilton added 15 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for the host Red Storm (3-0), who who trailed 37-29 at halftime.

DEPAUL 59, NORTHWESTERN 49: Karron Clarke scored 15 and Jabari Currie added 13 as Jerry Wainwright gained his first victory as coach of the host Blue Demons (1-1).

[Last modified November 27, 2005, 01:19:10]