Pitt benefited from solid defense ahead of Damarco Minor’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer when it won its last outing.
The Panthers (5-3) will look to ride that momentum into Tuesday’s game against visiting Texas A&M (6-2).
Pitt recorded nine steals and forced 13 turnovers in its 67-66 victory over Ohio State on Friday.
“We had to hunt as a pack,” said Minor, who collected 18 points and five steals versus the Buckeyes. “We knew they were a good team and we just had to get after it.”
Pitt had lost its previous two games against Power Four opponents.
Minor’s game-winning shot came almost exactly one year after the Panthers beat Ohio State on a different buzzer-beater.
Amare Bynum gave the Buckeyes the lead with 3.7 seconds left before Minor converted from the center logo to hand Ohio State its first loss of the season.
“We just kept fighting, kept throwing punches and landed a haymaker at the end,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “It was a big-time play, a big-time shot.”
Cameron Corhen and Barry Dunning Jr. also scored 18 points, with Corhen reeling in 10 rebounds.
The Aggies are led by sophomore guard Ruben Dominguez, who is averaging 15.6 points per game and shooting 50.0% from the field.
Dominguez drilled seven 3-pointers and finished with 21 points in Texas A&M’s 95-59 win over Florida State on Friday.
Rashaun Agee recorded 17 points and a career high-tying 17 rebounds in the victory.
The Aggies are averaging 9.5 steals per game, led by guard Marcus Hill and Josh Holloway with 1.8 apiece.
“We are a pressure team that gets up and pressures, but hey, we grew that lead out there,” Texas A&M coach Bucky McMillan said after the win against Florida State. “We were able to run our zone and we were good in our zone.
“So, we had to have some guys step up. You saw Rashaun, he had 17 points and 17 rebounds. I’m more proud of the 17 rebounds than anything else.”
–Field Level Media
