Vanderbilt's Tyrin Lawrence hit a pair of foul shots with 1.1 second left, living the Commodores to a 75-74 win over Pitt at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday night.
Vanderbilt center Liam Robbins blocked Pitt guard Jamarius Burton's shot on the other end, preserving a victory and snapping the Panthers' five-game winning streak.
PItt's Nelly Cummings had just hit a 15-foot jumper from the right side, the last points in an 8-0 run that gave the Panthers, four-point underdogs, the lead.
But Burton knocked Lawrence to the floor on a lay-up attempt on the next trip, setting up the winning free throws.
Robbins, once again, was huge for Vandy (5-4), tying Lawrence for the team lead in scoring while pacing the Commodores in rebounds (nine) and blocks (six).
Myles Stute also scored 14 for Vanderbilt, while Jordan Wright added 12.
Pitt guard Greg Elliott poured in 20 points for the Panthers (6-4), who hit 48% of their 25 3s. That kept the Panthers in a game in which Vandy shot 20 more field goals.
Vandy led by seven with 2:26 left thanks to Robbins's fade-away jumper, and it seemed the Commodores were in control. Elliott answered with a 3 with 2:15 left, which Vandy's Trey Thomas countered with one of his own.
Elliott this time hit a 2-pointer, and then Stute picked up an obvious foul on the other end. PItt’s Federiko Federiko hit the first of two free throws on Pitt's next possession and then Vandy lost a loose ball out of bounds after a miss on the second. Elliott next canned his sixth 3 of the evening with 1:07 left to get the Panthers within one.
After Lawrence missed a 3, Cummings put Pitt back ahead until Lawrence answered for the win.
Lawrence hit a corner 3 from the right side to give Vanderbilt a 64-56 lead with 5:32 left, the biggest lead of the night for either team.
Vanderbilt led 49-46 with 13:45 left when Stute and Burton were whistled for a double foul, the third for each. About a minute and a half later, Vanderbilt point guard Ezra Manjon got an open-court steal and fed Wright for a fast-break dunk.
Vanderbilt led 49-46 with 13:45 left when Stute and Burton were whistled for a double foul, the third for each. About a minute and a half later, Manjon got an open-court steal and fed Wright for a fast-break dunk.
But Pitt fought back and took its first lead of the second half on Hugley’s lay-up with 7:09 remaining.
Vandy then went on a run and put some distance between it and the Panthers, but couldn't put the Panthers away until the final second.
Vanderbilt attempted 40 shots to Pitt's 20 and had six fewer turnovers in the first half, but the game was tied at 34 at the break thanks to Pitt's nine-point edge at the foul line.
Meanwhile, Elliott hit all three of his first-half 3-point attempts for Pitt, which was 7-of-11 before the break.
The Commodores have now beat Pitt in back-to-back years following last year's win in Pittsburgh.
Vandy next hosts Grambling State (5-3) on Friday.
Wright hurt again?
Wright, who sat out Vanderbilt’s won over Wofford on Saturday with back troubles, came off the bench but played 12 first-half minutes. Wright seemed to be back to himself for the most part, adding five rebounds, six assists and no turnovers and a plus-5 rating in 25 minutes.
The question exiting Wednesday is whether Wright ended the night close to full health. With 4:25 left, Burton knocked Wright to the floor on a clean foul on a shot. Wright appeared to be feeling it as he got up. He then missed the first foul shot and hit the second.
On the ensuing Pitt possession, Wright appeared to have something of a mild collision with a Pitt player. When the clock stopped at 4:03, Wright hunched over in pain and came out of the game.
The Tennessean's Aria Gerson provided this update afterwards:
Notes
- Pitt played just three reserves who combined for four points. Vanderbilt's bench, led by Wright, scored 28.
- With Wright out, Vanderbilt made the rare move of starting Robbins and Quentin Millora-Brown.
- Freshman forward Lee Dort played just four first-half minutes but had a plus-7 rating and scored two points. Dort didn't play in the second half.
- Freshman point guard Paul Lewis (concussion) didn't play for the sixth-straight game.