Men’s Basketball: Pitt defeats Clemson in overtime, 83-78

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Josh Newkirk gathered in a loose ball with two seconds to play, faked and shot from mid-range to tie the game as the buzzer sounded in regulation. After video review confirmed the call, Pitt went to overtime where the Panthers outscored Clemson 16-11 to garner a 83-78 comeback victory.

With the win, Pitt (23-8, 11-7 ACC) locked up the No. 5 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament. 

Lamar Patterson scored a game-high 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting, Cameron Wright added 16 and Talib Zanna posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Clemson overcame a sloppy start to the game, with six turnovers in the team’s first 13 possessions of the game. The Tigers then went on a 14-2 run to erase an early Pitt lead and went into halftime with a 38-29 advantage. 

Pitt came back in the second half to tie the game at multiple points, but couldn’t break through for a lead as the Tigers (19-11, 10-8 ACC) used hot 3-point shooting throughout to answer each one of Pitt’s stabs at taking control of the game. 

K.J. McDaniels led a group of four Tigers in double-figure scoring with 24 points while Jaron Blossomgame scored 14 and Jordan Roper and Rod Hall each added 12. 

But Newkirk’s shot barely beat the buzzer to send the contest to overtime, where Pitt jumped out to a seven-point lead and controlled the contest through the end of the game.