Jeremiah Kelly scored a career-high 23 points, including seven in the final minute, as DePaul snapped a 24-game losing streak in the Big East with a 79-76 victory at Providence on Thursday.

The Blue Demons (7-18, 1-12 Big East) also ended a 12-game losing streak and a 29-game slide on the road dating back to 2008. Including a loss in last season's Big East Tournament, DePaul had dropped their last 25 against Big East teams.

The freshmen duo of Cleveland Melvin and Brandon Young added 20 and 17 points, respectively, for DePaul, which had not won a Big East game since defeating Marquette at home on Jan. 20, 2010. It was the Demons' first road win since beating Illinois-Chicago on Nov. 22, 2008.

Providence (14-12, 3-10 Big East), which had defeated ranked teams Villanova and Louisville in January, rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to tie it 58-58 with 8:25 remaining, but could never get the lead.

Kelly, who had 14 points in the first half, gave the Blue Demons a 75-71 lead with just under a minute left on a 3-pointer from the corner, and hit four clinching free throws in the final 29 seconds to give DePaul its first win since Dec. 22 against Florida Atlantic.

Marshon Brooks, the nation’s third leading scorer, had 28 points, including 18 in the second half, for the Friars. Duke Mondy added 17.