Pitt Stunned by Notre Dame After Last-Second Foul Call, 55-54

CHARLOTTE — On Tuesday, Pitt opened the ACC Tournament with a first-round matchup against Notre Dame, falling to the Irish after an intense game.

Notre Dame took control of the game early behind early buckets from Julian Roper and Nikita Konstantynovskyi. The Irish held Pitt scoreless for the first 3:35 of the game, when Jaland Lowe got the Panthers on the board with a three pointer. The two teams traded baskets throughout the next portion of the half, with Guillermo Diaz Graham, Zack Austin, and Beebah Cummings getting on the board for the Panthers.

Notre Dame then went on an 8-2 run that included two threes from Matt Allocco and one layup from Konstantynovskyi. Both teams went ice cold towards the end of the first half, with Pitt making just one of its last field-goal attempts in the half, and Notre Dame turning the ball over six times in the final seven minutes. Notre Dame went into the half with the lead, 25-22.

The Panthers took over control of the game in the second half, a Austin, Jaland Lowe, and Cam Corhen went on a 6-0 run with three-straight baskets, giving the Panthers the lead. Corhen continued his solid second-half production after a rough first frame, as he hit four of his first four shots in the latter half.

Notre Dame was not going to give in easily, though. The Irish fought back and kept this game close throughout. Pitt led 43-41 in an intense battle with 7:30 to play as the two teams went into the under-eight timeout.

In the final four minutes, Notre Dame’s Allocco drained another three pointer, this time cutting the Pitt lead down to just one point. On the ensuing possession, Roper threw down a putback dunk. All of a sudden, Pitt went from up four points to down one in a matter of seconds.

Out of a timeout, Pitt’s Leggett found Corhen inside on a beautiful bounce pass. Corhen went up and over the Irish defense and made the layup, giving Pitt the lead once again.

In the final minute, Konstantynovskyi made a tip-in layup to tie the game at 54. Then, on Pitt’s end, the Panthers Lowe missed a layup. The ball was batted around by both teams, and the officials determined it was Pitt’s ball with 33.8 seconds to play after review. Lowe then stepped out of bounds on a drive, turning the ball over.

When Notre Dame got the ball, Burton missed the game-winning attempt. However, as the Irish tried to tip in the winner, the referees called a foul on Austin with 0.5 seconds to play. Davis made the first free throw, and the Irish won the game.

Check out the foul here.

Lowe led Pitt with 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting, while Corhen added ten points and Cummings added nine. No Notre Dame player scored more than Tae Davis, who had just 11. Notre Dame held star guard Burton to just 4-for-14 shooting.

Pitt fell to 17-15 and 8-13 in the ACC with the loss.