Miami cinches a last second win against Pitt, 65-63

Hitting one last-second shot in a game is uncommon enough — on Tuesday night, Miami hit two.

Angel Rodriguez’s game-winning tip-in with 1.4 seconds left in regulation downed Pitt against No. 12 Miami on the road, 65-63. Hardly a slow game, Miami guard Sheldon McClellan’s running two-point basket to end the first half — changed during halftime to a three-pointer — foreshadowed the end-of-game theatrics.

Neither team took control throughout the game, as they missed open shots and failed to establish a dominant pace. While each of Pitt’s losses against ranked teams so far have been by double digits, Tuesday’s game always stayed within eight points.

Down three with less than 30 seconds remaining, Pitt (17-6, 6-5 ACC) found an open James Robinson, who hit a crucial three to tie the game at 63. But after McClellan missed a corner three of his own, both teams batted the ball in the air before Rodriguez snuck between the Pitt defenders to tip it in, dooming the visitors.

While Robinson’s three gave his team a brief glimmer of hope, Pitt struggled mightily from long range for the game’s first 39 minutes, shooting only 23 percent.

Robinson, who did not score Saturday and shot 0-7 from the field, made the first basket of the game two minutes in with an easy driving layup.

Likewise, Rodriguez, who shot 0-6 his last time out, scored the Hurricanes’ second basket after splitting a couple Pitt defenders.

Sheldon Jeter, starting his third consecutive game, picked up two fouls in the first three minutes of the game, forcing coach Jamie Dixon to remove him.

Michael Young continued his proficient shooting on midrange jumpers, hitting one out of the under-12 timeout to put Pitt up 14-12. Both teams stayed within two points of each other for the first 10 minutes of the game. But while Young tied for the team lead with 12 points, a few late defensive lapses and turnovers marred his performance.

Both teams have relied on the long ball this season, but neither hit a 3-pointer until just over 14 minutes into the game, when Jamel Artis drilled one from the corner. His three extended Pitt’s lead, and Miami struggled to come back, largely because it missed its first five 3-point shots.

Sophomore Ryan Luther turned in some valuable plays on both ends of the court. In one sequence, he blocked Kamari Murphy at point-blank range, then on the ensuing possession tipped in an offensive rebound for a score. When Pitt next brought the ball down on offense, Luther drew a foul at the rim and hit both free throws. He also scored 12 points with a team-high seven rebounds.

Pitt used a 3-2 zone for chunks of the first half, and it stifled the home squad — Miami went on a 1-9 shooting drought over five minutes, allowing the Panthers to open up a 22-17 lead.

Luther scored on another offensive tip-in, but McClellan got the last word. With time expiring in the first half, he took the ball all the way down the court and hit a runner as time expired to set the score at 33-29 Pitt at the break.

While the referees initially ruled the prayer a two-pointer, they flip-flopped and changed the ruling to a 3-point basket during the intermission.

Luther led the Panthers with eight points and four rebounds at halftime, and Rodriguez paced the Hurricanes with eight. The squads combined to shoot 3-13 from 3-point range in the half.

Miami began the second half with a quick 5-0 run and briefly took the lead before Jeter, who played just a couple first-half minutes, hit a short jumper to stop the bleeding.

Miami continued to pressure Pitt, and Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer off an offensive board to extend its lead to 42-37.

Chris Jones didn’t enter the game until midway through the second half, but he made his mark with three quick layups. His final bucket tied the game at 47, pushing Miami coach Jim Larranaga to call a timeout.

His fourth straight basket, on a self-propelled 8-0 run, gave the Panthers the lead back.

Miami responded with an 8-0 run of its own to regain a 55-49 lead, highlighted by Murphy’s transition bucket-and-one.

Robinson hit just the Panthers’ second 3-pointer of the night with five minutes left, bringing Pitt within one. A minute later, he would find Jeter in transition for a dunk, which gave Pitt the lead again and forced another Larranaga timeout. But after that point, Miami outscored the visitors 8-5 to seal the win.

Despite limiting Miami to 45 percent shooting and Pitt shooting a perfect 10-10 from the foul line, it could not make enough shots in the final stretch to pull off the road win over a ranked team.

The Panthers will get another crack at a ranked ACC team when they travel to face No. 9 North Carolina on Sunday at 1 p.m.