Pittsburgh Clutch at Line When It Counts

Despite Pittsburgh’s fast start, one of its weaknesses this season has been free-throw shooting.

Saturday’s display was no different, but the No. 2 Panthers did make their foul shots when it mattered most.

Julius Page made a free throw with 0.4 seconds left to cap Pittsburgh’s second-half rally and the Panthers held off Georgetown, 65-64, Saturday in a Big East Conference game at Pittsburgh.

“I was sure he was going to make it,” Pittsburgh’s Brandin Knight said. “Everybody talks about our [mediocre] foul shooting, but I had the utmost confidence he was going to make that shot.”

Chevy Troutman, Pitt’s only reliable free-throw shooter who made all 10 of his attempts, keyed the comeback by scoring all but one of his 20 points in the second half. His five consecutive points gave Pitt the lead for good at 59-56.

The Panthers are 15-1 for the second straight season and 5-0 in the Big East for the first time. In their first close home game this season, they held Georgetown’s Mike Sweetney to 12 points, nearly 10 below his average, yet still had a struggle.

In a tough, physical game, Pittsburgh made 24 of 41 free throws (58.5%), just below their season average of 61.1%. The Panthers are making only 56% of their free throws in conference games.

After Page made the first free throw, he intentionally missed the second so time could expire before Georgetown (10-5, 2-3) could get off a desperation shot.

No. 3 Duke 91, Georgia Tech 71 -- Dahntay Jones scored 21 points and Shelden Williams had a season-high 18, and the Blue Devils (13-2, 4-2) avoided their first three-game losing streak in the Atlantic Coast Conference in seven years with a victory over the Yellow Jackets (9-7, 2-3) at Durham, N.C. Georgia Tech fell to 0-6 on the road this season.

No. 4 Texas 76, No. 21 Missouri 55 -- Brandon Mouton scored 20 points and T.J. Ford sparked a key second-half run to lead the Longhorns (13-2, 4-0) over the Tigers (11-4, 2-2) in a Big 12 Conference game at Austin, Texas. Ford scored six straight points in a burst that broke open a 52-46 game, and he finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists.

No. 7 Oklahoma 67, Baylor 54 -- Kevin Bookout scored a season-high 18 points and Hollis Price came up big when things got close in a Big 12 game at Waco, Texas, to lead the Sooners (13-3, 4-1) over the Bears (9-7, 0-5) for the 17th straight time. After Baylor got within two, 38-36, early in the second half, Price keyed two straight baskets for Oklahoma and the Bears never got closer.

No. 8 Kentucky 63, No. 15 Alabama 46 -- Gerald Fitch scored 16 points and the Wildcats (15-3, 5-0) defeated the Crimson Tide (12-5, 2-4) in a Southeastern Conference game at Tuscaloosa, Ala., to end Alabama’s school-record 28-game home winning streak. It was the lowest-scoring game Alabama since it had 45 points against Florida in the 1987-88 season.

No. 9 Louisville 72, Tennessee 69 -- Taquan Dean made a key three-pointer and Kendall Dartez made a jumper in the final minute as the Cardinals (14-1) rallied to win their 13th in a row by defeating the Volunteers (9-6) at Knoxville, Tenn. Reece Gaines led Louisville with 22 points.

No. 11 Connecticut 74, Villanova 65 -- Freshman reserve Rashad Anderson scored a career-high 18 points on seven-of-nine shooting to lead the Huskies (12-3, 3-1) over the Wildcats (12-6, 5-1) in a Big East game at Hartford, Conn. Before Saturday, Villanova had been averaging 92 points during a five-game winning streak.

No. 12 Maryland 52, Clemson 47 -- Drew Nicholas scored 14 points and the Terrapins (12-4, 5-1) overcame their worst shooting performance of the season (33.9%) to defeat the Tigers (11-4, 1-4) in an ACC game at Clemson, S.C. Maryland won its 10th consecutive game over Clemson.

Purdue 69, No. 14 Indiana 47 -- Kenny Lowe scored 19 points and Willie Deane had 18 at West Lafayette, Ind., to help the Boilermakers (12-4, 4-1) end a five-game losing streak to the Hoosiers (14-4, 4-2) after winning the Big Ten Conference game.

No. 16 Notre Dame 101, Boston College 96 -- Chris Thomas scored 25 of his 28 points after halftime and had seven assists and a season-high eight rebounds to lead the Fighting Irish (16-3, 4-1) over the host Eagles (8-8, 1-4) in overtime in a Big East game.

No. 18 Illinois 75, Penn State 63 -- James Augustine had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Illini (14-3, 4-2) over the Nittany Lions (5-11, 0-5) in a Big Ten game at State College, Pa. Penn State is off to its worst start since joining the conference in 1992.

No. 19 Georgia 85, No. 24 Auburn 79 -- Ezra Williams scored 19 points and Steve Thomas had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs (12-4, 4-1), who were nine for 10 from the free-throw line over the final 1:23 to defeat the Tigers (15-4, 4-2) in an SEC game at Athens, Ga.

No. 20 Marquette 72, DePaul 51 -- Dwyane Wade scored 21 points and had a career-high seven steals to lead the Golden Eagles (13-3, 5-1) over the Blue Demons (10-6, 2-3) in a Conference USA game at Milwaukee.

No. 22 Mississippi State 67, Louisiana State 64 -- Michael Ignerski scored 15 points and the Bulldogs (12-4, 2-3) went the final 5:42 without a field goal, but withstood a frantic last-minute rally to defeat the Tigers (12-5, 1-4) in an SEC game at Starkville, Miss.