MIAMI, Fla. -- Miami guard Angel Rodriguez has to stand on his tiptoes to reach the 6-foot mark in stature, but he came up big, really big, in No. 12 Miami's 65-63 victory over Pittsburgh in an Atlantic Coast Conference clash Tuesday night.

His tip-in with 1.4 seconds remaining in the game after Hurricanes guard Sheldon McClellan missed a corner 3-pointer and guard Davon Reed could not convert his follow attempt provided the decisive points for the Hurricanes (19-4, 8-3 ACC).

"We needed a little bit of luck at the end and Angel Rodriguez provided it," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "And left-handed, by the way. It was amazing."

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, however, looked at a play much earlier in the evening as a key to the outcome. His Panthers (17-6, 6-5) were leading 33-26 and had the ball as the clock wound down in the first half.

But forward Jamel Artis missed a 3-pointer with five seconds left, and McClellan grabbed the rebound, raced down the court, and hit a long jumper at the buzzer.

It was ruled a 3-pointer and got Miami to within 33-29 at the break.

"If we make the 3 it's a 10-point game," Dixon said. "And it's a four-point game after we come out at the halftime. That's probably the difference there."

Rodriguez finished with a game-high 17 points and eight assists, while forwards Michael Young and Luther Ryan led Pitt in scoring with 12 points each.

After a lackluster first half that saw the Hurricanes shoot only 37.5 percent from the field -- and they needed to hit three of their final four attempts to get to that - Miami came out firing in the second half.

The Hurricanes opened the second half on a 17-4 run ignited by McClellan's 3-pointer and featuring three consecutive baskets by center Tonye Jekiri.

Jekiri's jumper one minute into the period gave Miami its first lead since the 15:10 mark of the first half, and the Hurricanes went on to build a 46-39 advantage before the Panthers struck back.

The visitors took a 49-47 lead on guard/forward Chris Jones' jump shot at 9:07 but Miami countered by scoring in eight consecutive points to take a 55-49 lead with 6:21 remaining.

But the Panthers weren't done. Forward Sheldon Jeter's dunk gave them a 58-57 lead with under four minutes to set up the finish.

After Pitt guard James Robinson hit a 3-pointer to tie the game 63-63 with 27.9 seconds left, Miami played for the final shot. Rodriguez eventually got the ball to McClellan, who was open in the corner. He missed, but Rodriguez went against usual procedure for a guard and crashed the boards.

"I went for the rebound because I knew there was just like two seconds left," said Rodriguez. "I know my job is to get back as coach said, but there was not a whole lot of time and I figured I might as well take the gamble. It ended up paying off."

The final play negated what had been a stellar effort by the Panthers, who controlled things early in the game despite the small margin at the break.

"We definitely could have capitalized on some things a little better in the first half," Robinson said, "and especially in the second half. That's something we've got to get back to doing."

NOTES: Miami backup F Ivan Cruz Uceda sat out because of illness. He is averaging 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds this season. ... Miami freshman F Ebuka Izundu's basket in the first half provided his first points since Dec. 22 when he had six points against La Salle. He had been in only one game since then and was scoreless against Clemson. ... Pitt's trio of F Jamel Artis, G James Robinson and F Michael Young has started 57 consecutive games as a unit. Robinson has started 125 of 126 games in his career and Young all 92 in three seasons. Artis has started every game (57) since the beginning of the 2014-15 season.