Marquette rallies to beat Pitt

Marquette’s Dominic James regrets being on the bench because of a shoulder injury during the key minutes of Pittsburgh’s comeback victory at home against Marquette last season. He wasn’t about to miss the rematch.

James made two free throws after being fouled with less than a second remaining in overtime, and No. 24 Marquette rallied after squandering an 11-point lead to surprise No. 6 Pittsburgh, 77-74, on Sunday, making all 10 of its free throws in overtime.

Asked what was going through his mind when he stepped to the line, James said, “Ice water was going through my mind at the end. I’ve never had two free throws to win a game like that.”

James scored 23 points, and Dan Fitzgerald and Wesley Matthews had 14 each as the Golden Eagles, 17-4 overall and 4-2 in the Big East, improved to 4-1 against top-25 teams and dealt Pitt (17-3, 5-1) only its second loss in its last 30 home games. Pitt is 0-3 against ranked teams.

“We haven’t lost a lot, and this is disappointing,” Pitt Coach Jamie Dixon said. “But there’s not many times a team is going to go 10 of 10 at the line in overtime and lose.”

Ronald Ramon scored 21 points, and 7-footer Aaron Gray had 16 points and nine rebounds despite sitting out the final 3 1/2 minutes of regulation, when Pitt surged back after trailing, 60-51, following Fitzgerald’s two three-pointers.

Fitzgerald also made an important three-pointer during overtime.