Sean Kilpatrick led the way with 19 points as Cincinnati escaped with a 71-68 victory over DePaul Tuesday evening in Rosemont, Ill., the 23rd straight regular-season Big East loss for the Blue Demons.

Cashmere Wright scored five straight points to key a 10-0 run late in the first half, giving the Bearcats (19-5, 6-5 Big East) a 37-21 advantage with 2:35 left before the break. They would need every bit of that cushion.

Cincinnati led by as many as 17 early in the second half before DePaul (6-17, 0-11) put together a late rally. A four-point play by Moses Morgan with 1:33 remaining brought the Blue Demons within four, 69-65, and a late turnover gave them the ball back for a chance to tie with 0.4 seconds to go, but a 3-point shot by Jimmy Drew rimmed out as time expired.

Ibrahima Thomas contributed 16 points for Cincinnati, which shot 58.3 percent (28 of 48) from the floor. Cleveland Melvin scored 20 points to lead DePaul, while Brandon Young added 16 points.