Jamarius Burton made a go-ahead jumper with 10 seconds left, and Pitt edged Mississippi State 60-59 in a back-and-forth game Tuesday night that featured 21 lead changes — the most in the NCAA tournament in five years.
Mississippi State had a great chance to win in the end, but Shaquille Moore missed a wide-open three-pointer from the corner with two seconds left in inside play. DJ Jeffries’ tip attempt was off target just before the buzzer.
Nellie Cummings led Pitt with 15 points. Greg Elliott scored 13 and Blake Henson added 12 as the Panthers (23-11) won their first NCAA Tournament game since 2014.
They entered the Midwest Regional bracket as the 11th seed and advanced to face sixth seed Iowa on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“We showed toughness and resilience,” said Pitt coach Jeff Capel. “We were who we were all year, and it wasn’t pretty — but it was beautiful.”
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Blake Henson of Pittsburgh celebrates with fans after Pittsburgh beat Mississippi State in the first four games of the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Tolo Smith’s layup gave Mississippi State a 59-58 lead with 32 seconds left, but Pitt—after a three-minute scoring drought—retook the lead on Burton’s short jump.
Guillermo Diaz-Graham blocked Smith’s attempt to throw a drive-in out of bounds with 2.7 seconds left, setting up the final sequence.
“I made a block—I don’t even know how—with my left hand,” said the overworked 6-foot-11 freshman. “I don’t usually use my left hand. I blocked it, and I knew it was a big play, so I let the energy run wild.”
Dashaun Davis scored 15 points for the Bulldogs (21-13), and Moore scored 13 points.
Burton, who spent nearly seven minutes on the bench after committing his fourth foul, said he knew his final shot was going in.
“When I had the ball in my hands for the last 30 seconds or so, I told myself I was built for it,” said Burton, who finished with six points. “I just got to a place and left it, and I had complete confidence in myself. That was pretty much all that happened.”
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Guillermo Diaz-Graham of Pittsburgh reacts after hitting a 3-point shot against Mississippi State during the first half of the First Four game against Mississippi State of the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
3-pointers were made immediately as the teams combined for 13 in the first half.
Mississippi State, not a good outfield pitching team, hit a four in the first five minutes but calmed down after that. The Panthers went 8-for-13 from beyond the arc in the opening period.
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The team hit only one run from distance in the second inning.
“Every team is going to make adjustments in the first half, so I think we had to make the same kind of adjustments and realize what kind of game we were in and take what the defense gave us,” Cummings said.
Good look
Mississippi State coach Chris Gans said he couldn’t disagree with the choices his players made in the last few seconds.
“It was a great look,” Gans said of Moore’s Lost 3. The point is all you can ask for, a chance – ball in the air – to win the NCAA Championship game and still have enough time to get a dip. “
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The Big Picture
Jamarius Burton of Pittsburgh reacts after hitting the winning ball during the second half of the First Four game against Mississippi State of the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Mississippi State: Came out shooting from long range, but in the second half it came back to the inside game that got the Bulldogs that far. They scored 30 points in the paint.
“When you’re outright buffing someone 49-28, you usually expect to win,” Gans said. “But you have to give Pete a lot of credit, they obviously played well enough to win. We struggled in the first half to guard them. We couldn’t contain all three, and it was still a one-point game.”
Pete: I was better on the outside and was finally able to open up a lead against Mississippi State’s solid perimeter defense.
“The attention to detail that we had to maintain throughout the game was something we talked about as soon as we found out who we were playing,” Cummings said.
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