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 three-pointers in regulation and overtime. The latter swished through on a highly contested shot from deep in the corner with 5.3 seconds left, giving LSU a 71-68 victory Saturday over No. 13 West Virginia.

“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 three-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.

West Virginia guard Johannes Herber (5) goes up for an acrobatic shot as LSU's Glen Davis defends. The Tigers beat the No. 13-ranked Mountaineers, 71-68, Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va.

“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.

“We broke down the pros and cons of West Virginia, and that’s one of their weaknesses,” Davis said. “They were not a good rebounding team. We took advantage.”

The Mountaineers were led by Mike Gansey’s 25 points. He hit seven of 11 three-point attempts, both career-highs.

No. 15 Illinois 77, Rutgers 55

South Padre Island, Texas – James Augustine scored 18 points, and Brian Randle added 16, leading Illinois past Rutgers in the championship game of the South Padre Island Invitational.

Augustine, who was named tournament MVP, was 7-of-9 from the field and had seven rebounds. Rich McBride scored 11 points, and Dee Brown added 10 for Illinois (5-0).

Quincy Douby led Rutgers (3-1) with 21 points, and Anthony Farmer scored 12.

No. 18 Iowa 79, Texas-San Antonio 46

Iowa City, Iowa – Adam Haluska scored 15 points, and Greg Brunner added 14 to lead Iowa, which got off to a slow start against the inexperienced Roadrunners before using a late first-half rally to begin pulling away.

The victory capped a week in which the Hawkeyes (4-1) beat No. 8 Kentucky and lost in the final minutes to second-ranked Texas in the title game of the Guardians Classic.

No. 20 Indiana 102, Western Illinois 79

Macomb, Ill. – Marco Killingsworth scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half, leading Indiana.

The 6-foot-8, 270-pound Killingsworth shot 7-for-7 in the first half and helped the Hoosiers build a 53-32 halftime lead in their first road game of the season.

Robert Vaden scored 22 points, and Marshall Strickland added 13 for Indiana, which shot 16-for-25 from three-point range.

Marlon Mahorn scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half for Western Illinois (1-2).

No. 21 Geo. Washington 80, Norfolk State 69

Washington – J.R. Pinnock scored 14 of his 19 points after halftime, and Mike Hall added 18 for George Washington, playing its second game without suspended star Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

Montrell McDonald added 12 for the Colonials (2-0), who only trailed once but didn’t have the game comfortably in hand until the second half. That’s largely because of guard Tony Murphy, who shot 6-for-9 on three-pointers and scored 25 for Norfolk State (0-4).

No. 22 Nevada 68, UNLV 61

Las Vegas – Marcelus Kemp scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half, and Mo Charlo added 18 points for Nevada.

The Wolf Pack survived a six-point performance from scorer leader Nick Fazekas, who came into the game averaging 24 points.

Nevada (3-0) led the entire second half, but UNLV twice cut its deficit to a point, including 57-56 with 5:22 play after a fast-break dunk from Louis Amundson. But Nevada called a timeout and went on a 11-5 run to finish the game.

Michael Umeh led UNLV (2-1) with 18 points, and Amundson added 13.

UNLV honored former coach Jerry Tarkanian before the game, naming the court at the Thomas & Mack Center the “Jerry Tarkanian Court.”