Manhattan ? Sammy Mejia and Wilson Chandler led DePaul with 18 points each, and the Blue Demons reached the NIT West Regional finals with a 70-65 second-round victory over Kansas State on Monday night.

Draelon Burns added 17 points for third-seeded DePaul, which will face top-seeded Air Force on Wednesday in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Blue Demons (20-13) reached the 20-win mark for the third time in the last four seasons and won two straight postseason games for the first time since the 1990 NIT.

Kansas State (23-12), the West’s No. 2 seed, has not advanced past the second round in the postseason since reaching the NIT semifinals in 1994.

The Wildcats had their chances at the line in a tense, physical game in which technical fouls were called on both coaches. However, they missed seven of their 17 foul shots.

Cartier Martin hit a three-pointer from the corner with 22 seconds to go to pull the Wildcats within two points.

But Burns hit the front end of a two-shot foul with 20.5 seconds left, making it 68-65, and DePaul got the ball back when Kansas State’s David Hoskins tipped the ball out of bounds.

Chandler hit two free throws with 17.5 seconds left for the game’s final points, then took a long pass and dribbled out the clock after Kansas State’s last possession ended in a turnover.

Hoskins led Kansas State with 24 points. Martin added 21 in his last game for the Wildcats, and Clent Stewart finished with 15.

DePaul led, 60-50, on Mejia’s dunk with 4:25 to go, but Kansas State responded with an 8-0 run, capped by Stewart’s three-pointer with just under 3 minutes left, to pull within 60-58.

Kansas State guard Lance Harris, right, holds the ball while defended by DePaul guard Draelon Burns. The Wildcats fell, 70-65, Monday in Manhattan.

Kansas State was behind by eight points at the break but closed to within three points when Stewart hit a three-

pointer with 11:37 remaining that cut DePaul’s lead to 49-46. But the Wildcats went scoreless on their next three possessions, and an 11-4 run gave DePaul a 10-point lead before Kansas State mounted its late comeback.

DePaul trailed, 9-7, with 121â2 minutes to go in the first half but then took the lead for good with a 10-0 run made up entirely of layups and free throws. The Blue Demons led, 38-30, at the half.

A technical foul on Kansas State coach Bob Huggins helped fuel DePaul’s run. With 111â2 minutes left in the first half, Huggins protested a non-call on a Kansas State turnover that led to a fast break for the Blue Demons and a two-shot foul against Martin.

DePaul converted all four free throws for a 15-9 lead.

Just over four minutes later, DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright was charged with a technical for arguing a charging call on Mejia.

Martin hit the resulting free throws and Akeem Wright made the front end of a two-shot foul on the Wildcats’ ensuing possession, pulling Kansas State to 21-19.

Lance Harris, who came in averaging 10.7 points, went scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting – all from three-point range – in his final game for Kansas State. Wright, also playing his last game for the Wildcats, fouled out with nine assists and seven rebounds.