Tae Davis scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting to help Notre Dame secure a much-needed 76-72 win over Pitt on Saturday in South Bend, Ind.
Markus Burton chipped in 20 points and Cole Certa added 12 for the Fighting Irish (12-15, 6-10 Atlantic Coast Conference), who avoided a third consecutive loss.
Ishmael Leggett netted 21 points and Cameron Corhen paired a season-high 20 points with seven rebounds to lead the Panthers. Jaland Lowe added 13 points and Guillermo Diaz Graham chipped in 11 as Pitt (16-11, 7-9) had its two-game win streak snapped.
The game was tied at 54-54 with just over seven minutes left before Notre Dame used a 13-2 run to take the lead for good. Burton delivered a key 3-pointer that gave the hosts a 59-54 edge and forced the Panthers to burn a timeout.
Davis' layup gave the Fighting Irish their biggest lead of the day at 65-56. Burton added a jumper two minutes later to put Notre Dame up 11 with 2:43 to go.
But Leggett made things interesting late for the Panthers by knocking down two 3-pointers, including one with 23 seconds left that trimmed the deficit to 72-69.
Pitt closed within 74-72 with eight seconds left, but J.R. Konieczny responded with two free throws and the Fighting Irish survived despite not making a field goal in the final 2:43 of the game.
The Panthers made seven straight shots to open up a 19-16 lead just past the midway point of the first half.
The teams were tied again at 28-28 with a little over three minutes to go and neither could grab momentum before halftime.
Pitt, which went the final 3:20 of the half without a field goal, took a 30-28 lead on two free throws by Leggett with 1:13 remaining.
Notre Dame went three minutes without a bucket until Burton ended the drought with a jumper just before halftime that tied the score at 30-30.
--Field Level Media
Pittsburgh | Notre Dame | |
Ishmael Leggett 21 | Scoring | Tae Davis 21 |
Jaland Lowe 4 | Assists | Markus Burton 3 |
Cameron Corhen 7 | Rebounds | Kebba Njie 7 |
Cameron Corhen 4 | Free Throws Made | J.R. Konieczny 6 |
Jaland Lowe 4 | Steals | J.R. Konieczny 2 |
Guillermo Diaz Graham 1 | Blocks | Tae Davis 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Pittsburgh | 72 | 50.9 | 7-20 | 11-18 | 9 | 23 | 1 | 6 | 10 |
Notre Dame | 76 | 56.2 | 6-17 | 16-20 | 12 | 24 | 1 | 6 | 11 |