Pitt withstands Quinn’s 37 points
No matter what defense Pitt tried against Chris Quinn, no matter what defender was used against him, he made shots – some from beyond the NBA’s 3-point range. But on a night no lead was safe against Notre Dame and its Quinn-led comebacks, what proved the Irish’s undoing was their inability to hold one of their few leads.
Ronald Ramon hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the second overtime and No. 22 Pittsburgh withstood Quinn’s 37 points and frantic Notre Dame rallies at the end of regulation and the first overtime for a 100-97 victory Wednesday night at Pittsburgh.
“We could have folded a half-dozen times and said it wasn’t our night, but we never did,” said a drained and disappointed Mike Brey, the Notre Dame coach. “I just wish we could have gotten him a win.”
The Irish almost did, improbably, in a game they trailed by nine points in the final 45 seconds of regulation and seven points with a minute left in the first overtime.
“It’s hard to say you played good defense when somebody scores 37 points, but I thought we did,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. “I’m sure I’ll see that guy scoring in my head the rest of the night. The guy made some unbelievable shots.”
Aaron Gray scored a career-high 25 points and Carl Krauser added 21 points before fouling out late in regulation, but it was freshman Sam Young who did much of unbeaten Pitt’s important scoring. He had only two points until late in the second half, but finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds as Pitt opened a season 12-0 for only the fifth time in its 100 years of basketball.
Quinn, a senior, scored 30 of his 37 points after halftime, including 16 consecutive Irish points late in the second half. Notre Dame, which came in on a seven-game winning streak, rallied to tie it at 77 on two late 3-pointers by Colin Falls.
If one comeback weren’t enough, Quinn then hit a 3-pointer and a driving layup in the final 18 seconds of the first overtime to force another 5 minutes in the Big East Conference opener for both teams. The Irish (9-3) took advantage of Pitt’s 8 of 15 free-throw shooting in the first overtime to surge from behind.
(4) Memphis 83, Middle Tennessee 50: At Memphis, Tenn., Joey Dorsey scored 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting and had nine rebounds and six blocks to lead the Tigers (12-2) past the Blue Raiders (7-5).
The Tigers rebounded from Monday’s 69-58 loss to No. 15 Texas. Their other loss was to No. 1 Duke in the Preseason NIT championship game. Rodney Carney led Memphis with 19 points, while Antonio Anderson had 13 and Robert Dozier 12.
(14) Maryland 99, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 73: At College Park, Md., Nik Caner-Medley scored a season-high 23 points, Chris McCray added 16, and the Terrapins (11-2) tuned up for Atlantic Coast Conference play by beating the Islanders (10-5).
It was the 29th consecutive non-conference home victory for the Terrapins, who closed the first half with a 23-5 run to go up 48-30.
(20) George Washington 72, Temple 60: At Philadelphia, Maureece Rice scored 14 points and Mike Hall had 12 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Colonials (9-1) past the Owls (6-5) in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener for both.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Danilo Pinnock each added 12 points for George Washington.
Women
Latoya Bond scored 21 points and Missouri beat No. 4 Baylor 64-61 at Columbia, Mo., to end the defending champion Lady Bears’ 30-game winning streak.
Tiffany Brooks blocked Jordan Davis’ 3-point attempt with 6 seconds left, helping the Tigers (11-2) extend their winning streak to 10 games and get their first victory against a top 10 team since the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament in 2001. Sophia Young had 31 points and 11 rebounds for Baylor (11-1).
(1) Tennessee 66, South Carolina 51: At Columbia, S.C., Tye’sha Fluker had 14 of her 18 points in the second half to lead the Lady Vols (14-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) past the Gamecocks (9-4, 0-1) for their 32nd consecutive win. … (3) LSU 65, Auburn 38: At Auburn, Ala., Sylvia Fowles scored 23 points, Seimone Augustus added 21 and the Tigers (12-0, 2-0 SEC) stifled the Tigers (9-5, 0-1). … (7) Connecticut 80, Georgetown 38: At Hartford, Conn., Ann Strother scored 19 of her 23 points in the first half and the Huskies (12-1, 2-0 Big East) defeated the Hoyas (7-5, 0-1). … St. John’s 66, (12) Notre Dame 63: At New York, Angela Clark scored 18 points and the Red Storm (11-2, 1-1 Big East) held on for their first victory over the Fighting Irish (9-3, 0-1). … (18) Oklahoma 87, Iowa St. 67: At Ames, Iowa, Chelsi Welch matched her career high with 23 points, and twins Courtney and Ashley Paris each had a double-double, leading the Sooners (11-3) past the Cyclones (9-3) in a Big 12 opener. … (25) Virginia Tech 91, High Point 52: At Blacksburg, Va., Kerri Gardin scored 15 points and Dawn Chriss had 13 as the Hokies (13-1) defeated the Panthers (9-4).