In what would have been remembered as the “T.O.” (timeout) game, Pitt overcame an unnecessary decision by coach Jamie Dixon to pull out a 85-81 win over Notre Dame in overtime at South Bend, IN today.
The game could have ended in regulation, when senior winger Lamar Patterson had beaten his man on a ball screen and had a clear lane to the hoop with the game tied at 65 and less than 4 seconds to play.
Instead, coach Dixon called a timeout and killed Patterson’s chance to win it for Pitt. The Panthers later settled for a wild outside jumpshot by sophomore guard James Robinson and sent the game to Overtime.
Notre Dame, though, played tough and actually took a commanding 17-8 early lead in the first half.
The Irish guards were nearly unstoppable as they have been many times over the past 6 meetings with Pitt. They were led by Pat Connaughton (19 points on 7-10 shooting from the field), Eric Atkins (17 points on 5-11 shooting) and Steve Vasturia (15 points on 3-7 shooting).
Most of the damage came from behind the arc as the Irish shot a blistering 52% (12 for 23) from downtown. Notre Dame also sizzled from the line shooting 85% (23 for 27).
Pitt matched Notre Dame’s day at the line with its best Free Throw shooting day in recent memory (85% on 24 for 28 shooting).
The Panthers also received a major contribution from senior Talib Zanna (who produced a double-double with 17 points on 6-10 from the field and 5-6 from the line). Zanna was a monster on the glass and grabbed 14 boards (10 offensive 4 defensive) and proved to be the difference in the ball game.
Freshman forward Michael Young (13 points including a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe) and junior shooting guard Cam Wright (15 points on 7-15 shooting and 5 key rebounds) also made major contributions to seal the victory for Pitt. Wright was also a force defensively helping Pitt to force 16 Notre Dame turnovers.
It was Pitt’s first win at Notre Dame since March 2005, breaking a 9-game losing streak there.
Next up: Pitt wraps up his its final home game of the season against NC State on Monday night (3/3) at 9pm EST on ESPNU.