Fingertips separated the Pittsburgh Panthers from knocking off 12th ranked Miami Tuesday night.
Angel Rodriguez tipped in an offensive rebound with 1.4 seconds remaining to give the Hurricanes (19-4, 8-3) a dramatic 65-63 victory over the Panthers (17-6, 6-3) at the BankUnited Center Tuesday night. It was a devastating and gut-wrenching end for a Pitt squad that fought hard the entire night after coming off the letdown against Virginia Saturday afternoon.
Miami seemingly had the game on a wrap after going up 55-49 late in the 2nd half, but the Panthers valiantly fought back on a 9-2 run to take what would be their last lead of the game at 58-57, capped by a Sheldon Jeter fast-break dunk. Miami took the lead back after scoring six straight points in the waning minutes, however struggles late from the free throw stripe allowed James Robinson to drill a three-pointer with 31 seconds left to tie the game at 63 to set up the dramatic finish.
The Hurricanes ran the clock down to six seconds, and then had three cracks at the game-winning basket. McClellan rifled a three-pointer off the mark, followed by Davon Reed missing the put-back, which led to the fingertips of Rodriguez tipping the ball in over Ryan Luther to send the Hurricanes to their sixth win in seven games.
Rodriguez finished with a game-high 17 points and eight assists and was complimented by Hurricanes big man Tonye Jekiri, who battled back from early foul trouble to record a double-double at 10 points and 10 rebounds. For the Panthers, Michael Young and Luther tied for the team lead with 12 points.
New Defense- Both teams struggled offensively to start, but it was the Panthers that held the lead for most of the first half thanks to a new 3-2 zone defense that confused the Hurricanes early. Coach Jamie Dixon’s defensive game plan held Miami to just shooting 37.5 percent in the first half, and allowed his Panthers to build a lead by as much as eight in the first half. Pitt also hammered the Hurricanes on the boards in the first half, out-rebounding the Hurricanes 20-12.
Luther’s big Night
It was Pitt’s bench that provided most of the offense in the first half, most in part thanks to a breakout performance from sophomore forward Ryan Luther. Luther would go on to finish tied for the team-high in points with 12, along with seven rebounds. It was the second time this season Luther finished in the double-digits with points after scoring 15 against Detroit in November. Pitt’s bench finished the contest with 28 of the 63 points.
The faithful Basket
Pitt led 33-26 in the closing seconds of the first half, and then momentum changed when Hurricanes guard Sheldon McClellan stormed down the court and drilled a running three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Panther lead to four at halftime. That basket kick-started an 18-4 run by Miami, where at times Pitt was getting straight bullied by a fired-up Hurricanes squad. After all that, Pitt found themselves down 44-37 and had to climb back the rest of the game.
Lack of Artis
The Panthers had a very balanced scoring with nine different players making the score sheet. One of those players scored 10 points below his season average Tuesday night. That was Jamel Artis, who shot an ugly 2-10 from the field and 1-6 from three-point range, which totaled to a season-low 5 points. That performance makes Panthers fans wonder how the result could have changed if Artis had a normal scoring output.
Up Next
Pitt will now travel to Chapel Hill to face the current number one in the ACC and ninth-ranked nationally, North Carolina Tar Heels this Sunday. The Valentine’s Day contest tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.
