Men’s basketball: Pitt downs Duke in OT
Levance Fields had about as much on his mind as a player can.
His team was down two points with 16 seconds left in overtime. He had turned the ball over on Pittsburgh’s last two possessions. He was playing in front of a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden, the arena the junior guard used to take the subway to and from his home in Brooklyn. His best friend on the team, Mike Cook, had been helped from the court with what looked like a severe knee injury just minutes earlier.
Fields got the ball with about 10 seconds left. He shot from his favorite spot, just behind the 3-point line off to the left side of the head of the key.
His 3-pointer went in with 4.7 seconds left and – after Duke missed two final shots – No. 11 Pittsburgh had a 65-64 victory over the sixth-ranked Blue Devils on Thursday night in a matchup of unbeatens in the Aeropostale Classic.
After Fields’ shot gave Pittsburgh (11-0) the lead, Duke’s Jon Scheyer took a running 3 and was able to grab the rebound and get off a final shot, but it was another miss for the Blue Devils (10-1).
Fields, who finished with 21 points, hit all three of Pittsburgh’s 3-pointers in the game. The second one he made was part of a 12-0 run that gave the Panthers a 50-49 lead with 5:27 to play in regulation, their first since 2-0.
Duke had the final two shots of regulation, too.
Gerald Henderson of Duke tied the game at 58 on a jumper with 56 seconds left in regulation.
Cook missed a 3 with 23 seconds left and the Blue Devils worked for a last shot, Henderson’s driving miss in the lane, but Kyle Singler got the rebound and his putback went off the rim.
Sam Young had 17 points for Pittsburgh, while freshman DeJuan Blair had 15 points and 20 rebounds and his energy on the boards was a big key for the Panthers in their comeback from a 13-point deficit 4 minutes into the second half.
“He made a big shot. That is a big-time play,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said of Fields. “I thought they played tougher than we did. We just didn’t have the energy that we have displayed most of the season. I think some of it is because Pitt is good.”
The loss snapped Duke’s 36-game winning streak in December. The Blue Devils’ last loss in the 12th month was 84-83 to Stanford on Dec. 21, 2000.
Both teams were used to playing in Madison Square Garden. Pitt is 18-8 there since 2001-02 and Duke is 15-6 in the Garden under Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils had won their last seven in the building.
It looked like Duke’s winning streaks in the month and New York City would remain intact as the Blue Devils took a 16-point lead in the first half and were still up 39-26 with 16:31 left in regulation.
(15) Clemson 90, Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 73: At Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, K.C. Rivers had 21 points and 11 rebounds to help the Tigers (9-0) beat their Division II opponent in the San Juan Shootout. Steven Ramirez led Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (1-11) with 21 points and seven assists.
(22) Miami 85, North Florida 63: At Coral Gables, Fla., Jack McClinton and Dwayne Collins each scored 13 points to lead the Hurricanes to their 11th straight win to start the season. Tom Hammonds scored 13 points for the Ospreys (1-9).