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Notre Dame Beats Pitt in ACC Tournament Game Thanks to Ref’s Brutal Call in Last Second

Tough way for the Panthers to bow out of ACC tournament.

Kyle Koster

Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel could not believe the whistle.
Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel could not believe the whistle. / ACC Network
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Both Notre Dame and Pittsburgh have to win the ACC tournament in order to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. The first step to do that would be to survive a matchup in early Tuesday action in Charlotte. The Irish were able to do just that thanks to a controversial call at the end of regulation.

With things knotted up at 54-54, Notre Dame's Tae Davis grabbed an offenive rebound with less than a second remaining and attempted a potential game-winning putback. There was some contact on the desperation play thanks to Panthers defender Zack Austin.

Enough to be deemed a shooting foul and send Davis to the line where he was able to secure a one-point victory.

“I really hated the way it ended,” Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel said after the game. “I’ve been coaching for 25 years. The worst way I’ve ever seen to end a ball game. I still can’t believe it, shocked at how it ended for us.”

Former Syracuse legend Jim Boeheim, on the broadcast for ACC Network, agreed with Capel's assessment that there shouldn't have been a whistle.

A brutal end to a largely disappointing year for Pittsburgh, which declined an invitation to the NIT last season and may face a similar decision over the weekend.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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