It doesn’t matter whether they are members of the Big East Conference or the ACC, the Pitt Panthers will always have their problems with Mike Brey’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
That was the case again Saturday for the Panthers, but unlike the past five meetings between the two schools, this time Pitt found a way to come away with an 85-81 victory in overtime.
Lamar Patterson scored 20 points, including a pair of free throws with two seconds left, and Talib Zanna had 17 points and 14 rebounds as Pitt overcame blowing a seven-point second half lead by making only one basket in the final six and a half minutes of regulation.
Despite their cold streak down the stretch, Pitt had an opportunity to put the game away late in regulation, but junior guard Cameron Wright missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have made it a two possession game with just seconds remaining.
That led to a three-pointer by Notre Dame’s V.J. Beachem to tie the game at 65 with just eight seconds remaining.
Pitt had the opportunity to win the game in regulation when Patterson drove past a Notre Dame defender and had a clear path to the basket. But Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon called a timeout after Patterson made his move, clearly angering his senior leader.
Pitt took the lead for good with 1:56 left in overtime when James Robinson made a pair of free throws and Zanna added a dunk 33 seconds later to give Pitt a four-point lead. Steve Vasturia scored 12 of Notre Dame’s 16 points in overtime, but the Irish couldn’t tie game again.
A big reason for the Panthers victory was the job Pitt did on the glass.
Pitt outrebounded Notre Dame 38-22, outscoring the Irish 21-5 in second-chance points, to overcome ND shooting 55 percent while Pitt was held to 43 percent shooting.
Fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives, the Panthers came out sleepwalking early on as they fell behind by as many as 12 in the first half.
However behind an inspired effort from Wright, who scored eight of his 15 points in the first half, Pitt pieced together a 14-4 run to close within 30-28.
But Pitt couldn’t stop Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton, who had 17 first half points, including a late three-pointer to put ND up 39-32. Pitt’s Josh Newkirk answered with a big three at the first half buzzer to close the gap to 39-35 at the half.
The Panthers were able to stay in the game by dominating the glass, holding a 17-8 rebounding edge at the half, including grabbing 12 offensive boards. But at the same time the Panthers had trouble defending the perimeter as the Irish knocked down 7-of-9 attempts from behind the arc in the first half and went into the locker room making an insane 73.7 percent of their attempts (14-of-19) from the floor.
Wright scored five quick points to begin the second half, keying a 16-6 run that gave Pitt a 51-46 lead.
Pitt stayed ahead until the final eight seconds of regulation, partially due to the fact that Notre Dame cooled off from the floor and Connaughton hurt his ankle and was limited to only two second half points.
Connaughton led the Irish with 19 points while Eric Atkins chipped in 17 and Vasturia added 15.
Patterson, Zanna and Wright were joined by freshman Michael Young (13) in double figures for the Panthers.
With seven assists on the game, Paterson joined Carl Krauser and Brad Wannamaker as the only players in Pitt history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists.
The Panthers will be back in action Monday night when they take on North Carolina State in their final regular season home game of the season.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
