BOSTON (AP) – Josh Newkirk had a pair of clutch baskets in the final 2 ½ minutes of overtime and finished with 15 points, lifting Pittsburgh to a 61-60 comeback win over Boston College on Tuesday night.
Michael Young added 15 points and Sheldon Jeter 11 with eight rebounds for the Panthers (11-4, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Pitt overcame deficits in regulation and OT.
Olivier Hanlan led Boston College (7-6, 0-2) with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Aaron Brown added 11 points.
Neither team shot very well in a contest dominated by tough, scrappy defense. Pittsburgh was 38.3 percent from the field and Boston College 40.4.
Patrick Heckmann’s 3-pointer from the right wing 2:15 into overtime gave Boston College a 60-55 lead.
But, like regulation, the Eagles had trouble putting the Panthers away.
This time, it cost them.
The Panthers scored the next six points, taking a lead on Newkirk’s driving basket with 5.9 seconds left.
Heckmann then missed on a drive and the ball hit the floor as the horn sounded. But, after the officials reviewed the replay, they put .3 seconds on the clock.
BC’s attempted alley-oop failed as the horn sounded.
After Boston College had a nine-point lead sliced to one midway into the second half, Hanlan nailed a pair of 3-pointers and scored a basket on drive into the lane during a 18-9 run that gave the Eagles a 51-41 edge with 3 ½ minutes to play.
The Panthers then went on a 10-0 run, scoring six points in the final 59 seconds of regulation. They tied it when Newkirk stole Brown’s pass near midcourt and went in for a layup with 31.2 seconds to play.
Heckmann missed a baseline drive before Dennis Clifford failed on an easy put-back just before the horn sounded, sending the game to OT.
The teams traded runs late in the tightly defended first half before BC took a 27-22 edge into intermission.
Pittsburgh then went nearly nine minutes without a point bridging the end of the first half into the second before James Robinson’s jumper ended the drought.
After that, the Panthers went on a 10-2 run, cutting it to 33-32 on Jeter’s free throw with 11 ½ minutes to play.
For lengthy stretches of the game, the Eagles had trouble getting inside Pitt’s 2-3 zone and the Panthers had the shot clock run low a handful of times against BC’s tough man-to-man defense.
The Panthers were coming off an 18-point loss at North Carolina State last Saturday when they shot a season-low 32.7 percent. BC dropped its ACC opener at No. 2 Duke by 23 points.
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TIP INS
Pittsburgh: The first half wasn’t much better than the Panthers’ last game when they scored just 20 points in the loss at N.C. State. … Pitt improved to 1-3 on the road.
Boston College: The Eagles announced earlier in the week that reserve guard Lonnie Jackson would be sidelined for the remainder of the season with a lower leg injury. … BC dropped to 6-2 at home.
UP NEXT
Pittsburgh: Hosts Clemson on Saturday.
Boston College: At Miami on Saturday.
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