Pitt Falls to Notre Dame in ACC Tournament

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers fought back from an early deficit, but would lose to Notre Dame in the First Round of the ACC Tournament, 55-54.

This is the second loss for Pitt this season vs. Notre Dame, losing 76-72 back on Feb. 22 on the road. It also gives Pitt a 17-15 record, after a 12-2 overall start to the season.

Pitt started off poorly from the field, but junior forward Cameron Corhen had one of the worst beginnings to a game this season.

He completely missed a wide open jumper, failed defending underneath vs. Fighting Irish graduate student forward Nikita Konstantynovskyi, turned it over and then committed a flagrant foul in the first two-and-a-half minutes.

Panthers sophomore guard Jaland Lowe finally scored at the 16:25 mark with a 3-pointer, but the Fighting Irish would go on a 11-4 run after a 6-0 start, building a 17-6 lead with 12 minutes left and forcing Panthers head coach Jeff Capel to call a timeout.

Notre Dame graduate student guard Matt Allocco, who missed the first meeting with Pitt, made two 3-pointers during the run.

The Fighting Irish built as big of a lead as 20-10 at the midway point of the first half, but the Panthers improved defensively the rest of the period.

They held Notre Dame to just 2-for-12 shooting, scoreless the final 4:39 and forced six turnovers.

Pitt still struggled shooting themselves, 9-for-24 from the field, but trimmed the deficit to just one possession, 25-22 at halftime, outscoring Notre Dame 12-5. Lowe led the way with six points and senior guard Ishmael Leggett added four points himself.

Fighting Irish junior forward Tae Davis got two baskets early on, but the Panthers made it a one-point game, 31-30 at the 15:45 mark, forcing Fighting Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry to call a timeout.

The Panthers got a basket each from redshirt senior forward Zack Austin, freshman guard Brandin "Beebah" Cummings, Corhen and Lowe.

Corhen gave Pitt their first lead of the game, with a layup, but Notre Dame stayed in it, as guard duo, sophomore Markus Burton and freshman Sir Mohammed, both made layups.

Pitt still kept the lead at the under-12 media timeout, 37-35, as Austin made a 3-pointer and Lowe hit two free throws.

Both teams kept it close, 43-41 at the under-8 media timeout. Corhen made two baskets and junior forward Jorge Diaz Graham added another for the Panthers, while Burton scored four points on a layup and two free throws and senior guard Julian Roper II made a layup himself.

Burton tied the game back up at 43-43 with a layup, but Lowe regained the lead for Pitt with two layups.

Notre Dame then got the lead themselves, as Allocco hit a 3-pointer, then Burton stripped Lowe and Roper got the put-back dunk off a miss, up 48-47 with three minutes left.

Corhen gave Pitt the lead right back with a layup, but Davis made two free throws for Notre Dame to hold a 50-49 lead with 2:22 remaining.

The Panthers missed a chance to score on the next possesion, but Burton fouled Cummings on a rebound, allowing him to make two free throws and take the lead, 51-50 with 1:36 left.

Corhen picked up his fourth foul on the ensuing possesion and Davis again made both of his free throws, as the Fighting Irish led 52-51.

Cummings then made an important 3-pointer right afterwards, with Pitt leading 54-52 with 1:05 remaining.

Konstantynovskyi tied it right back up for Notre Dame, on a tip-in off a missed shot from Burton with 51 seconds left.

Pitt had a chance to take the lead, but Lowe stepped out of bounds on the next possesion, giving it to Notre Dame with 19.2 seconds left.

Burton missed the game-winner and Davis would miss it off the offensive rebound, but the referees called a foul on Austin with 0.5 seconds left.

Davis made the first free throw and Notre Dame would get the victory after he missed the second.

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