Pittsburgh made another game-winning shot over Ohio State as the final buzzer sounded, taking down the Buckeyes 67-66 with a three-pointer from Damarco Minor at the Petersen Events Center on Nov. 28.
Ohio State overcame an early cold start to take a lead midway through the second half and held off a late comeback attempt from the Panthers, who had the game tied up with under 30 seconds to go before freshman forward Amare Bynum had a tip in off a rebound from his own shot to take the lead. With under four seconds to go in the game, Minor took the ball down the court and made the game-winner.
The Buckeyes got off to a slow start, allowing Pitt to get out to a 16-4 lead at 14:48 with the help of Damarco Minor, who scored eight of those points for the Panthers.
But sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. started a streak of three straight three-pointers for the Buckeyes, with freshman forward Amare Bynum and junior forward Devin Royal following suit. After a hook shot from sophomore center Ivan Njegovan, the Buckeyes were within one point.
Over that stretch, they were helped by their defense that forced Pitt to miss 12 straight shots from 14:09 to 8:57. But Ohio State’s run came to a halt while Minor scored five more points and had two steals before the next timeout that Pitt went into with a 30-20 lead at 3:24 in the first half.
At 2:20, Mobley was fouled and came down awkwardly on his ankle, missing two free throws before limping off to the bench. He would not return for the rest of the contest.
Ohio State went into halftime down by 10 points, 34-24, after a Royal layup with three seconds remaining.
It was an extremely inefficient performance from the field for the Buckeyes, who shot 10 of 26 in the first half (38.5 percent), making 4 of 15 from three (26.7 percent). OSU made it to the free-throw line just once in the half, with the injured Mobley missing both.
The Buckeyes scored the first six points of the second half in 1:12 of game time with sophomore guard Gabe Cupps and Bynum on the floor in place of Mobley and senior forward Brandon Noel.
After the Panthers were out to a 41-35 lead, neither team scored for 1:21 until Pittsburgh made a free throw and senior guard Bruce Thornton added two makes from the charity stripe of his own.
The Buckeyes would tie the game up at 42 after a hook shot from senior center Christoph Tilly and a three-pointer from Royal.
Ohio State grabbed its first lead of the game during a 4:59 long stretch in which it didn’t make a field goal, going up 48-47 on two free throws from Tilly and took it back again with a three-point play from Thornton at 7:02.
That lead stretched to five when Royal drained a three from the corner at 5:03. But Pitt remained in the game, bringing the score to 58-57 with a free throw before Royal hit a turnaround jumper in the paint and made a layup the next time down the court. In between Royal points, OSU gave up two offensive boards, which allowed the Panthers to make a layup.
With just over a minute left, Thornton broke a 6-62 tie with a floater in the paint. Cupps was called for a foul and the Panthers tied the game back up, but Bynum’s tip in came on the Buckeyes next trip down the floor.
With just under four seconds remaining, Minor took the ball all the way down the court on his own and made the contested jumper.
Ohio State was led by Royal in the win with 22 points. Thornton was just behind him, recording 18 points and 13 rebounds, his first double-double of the year. It was the first game in Thornton’s OSU career that he recorded double-digit boards.
