Panthers escape South Bend with 85-81 overtime victory

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Lamar Patterson caught the ball on the wing with seconds to play in a tie game against Notre Dame and had an open lane to the basket for what would have been a game-winning layup. Instead, he was halted by a time out.

Head coach Jamie Dixon called timeout with 2.8 seconds remaining to set up a new play.

Out of the timeout, James Robinson missed a fadeaway mid-range jumper, and the Panthers and Irish went to overtime. Dixon’s decision elicited memories of Pitt’s loss to Syracuse Feb. 12 when Tyler Ennis made his 35-foot buzzer beater after a late Pitt timeout.

But in the overtime period, Pitt (22-7, 10-6 ACC) made its free throws and avoided another late loss with a 85-81 win in South Bend, Ind. — the first win for the Panthers at Purcell Pavilion in nearly nine years. But while the Panthers won the game, Dixon said the team will still be questioned.

“I thought it was the right play, and it turned out that it wasn’t,” Dixon said. “We got a good look right after that.”

The Panthers were led by Patterson’s game-high 20 points, to which he added an additional seven rebounds and seven assists. Talib Zanna posted a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds while Cameron Wright scored 15 points, and Michael Young added 13.

Notre Dame (15-15, 6-11 ACC) shot 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half and led by as much as 12 points early. But with strong offensive rebounding, the Panthers closed their deficit to just four points at the half, 39-35.

Head coach Mike Brey said “second shots and turnovers” were the reason Notre Dame couldn’t pull away from the Panthers, which ultimately cost the Irish the game. 

Pat Connaughton led the Fighting Irish with 19 points and started his day 7-of-8 from the field. But an injury to his ankle in the second half, which his head coach figured would sideline him, limited him for the rest of the game.

“He’s got to be pretty sore with a twisted ankle,” Brey said.

Eric Atkins scored 17 points and handed out a game-high nine assists while freshman Steve Vasturia chipped in 15 points and made three 3-pointers.

The Irish cooled off from their 70-percent shooting that began the game, but still finished with a 54.8 percent clip. Patterson said that he knew entering the game that a win against Notre Dame would require finding a way to counter the Irish shooters.

“They shoot the heck out of the ball,” Patterson said. “But we overcame that and did what we do and rode them out.”

Pitt shot 43.1 percent from the field after a cold start, which kept the Panthers’ shooting percentage in the 20-percent range for most of the first half.

The Panthers mitigated Notre Dame’s hot shooting, not with scoring of their own, but by dominating the offensive glass. Pitt finished with 38 total rebounds that included 21 offensive rebounds, and the Fighting Irish recorded 22 total rebounds.

Young said that controlling the rebounding margin and making free throws kept the Panthers close and was “what ultimately got [them] the win” after falling behind early.

At the free-throw line, the Panthers shot 85.7 percent on 24-of-28 shooting, which Dixon credited as helping his team close out the game. 

“They were going a great job of fouling immediately,” Dixon said. “We had different guys in there that could hit the free throws.”