PITTSBURGH (AP) Marcus Carr scored a career-high 23 points and hit five free throws in overtime, and Pittsburgh beat Mount St. Mary’s 82-78 on Tuesday.
Pitt shot just 1 of 5 from the floor in the extra period, but Carr’s two free throws with 34 seconds left gave the Panthers an 80-75 lead. The Mountaineers closed to 80-78 on Donald Carey’s 3-pointer, but Carr hit two more from the line and Mt. St. Mary’s missed its final shot with two seconds to go.
The Mountaineers hit seven straight 3-pointers to rally from a 15-point second-half deficit and take a late lead. Carr’s layup with 25 seconds to go in regulation looked to win it, but reserve Mount St. Mary’s forward Bobby Planutis’ basket on an in-bounds play with six seconds to play to force overtime.
Carr was 7 for 13 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line and has scored in double digits in four of his last five games. Jared Wilson-Frame scored 15 points, Ryan Luther grabbed 16 rebounds and Khameron Davis added a career-high 12 points for the Panthers (5-4).
Jordan Robinson scored 24 points with nine assists for Mount St. Mary’s (3-6) and Jonah Antonio added 14 points.
The Mountaineers played the final 2:43 of regulation and all of overtime without senior guard Greg Alexander, who fouled out after scoring 17 points off the bench, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.
BIG PICTURE
Mount St. Mary’s: Don’t be fooled by the 3-6 record, the Mountaineers should still be expected to be contenders in the Northeast Conference. An aggressive non-conference schedule has seen Mount St. Mary’s play Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Pitt on the road, which account for four of the Mountaineers’ six losses.
Pittsburgh: Pitt (5-4) has now won four straight after losing four of their first five, but they haven’t had a ton of separation. Their average margin of victory in the winning streak is just nine points.
UP NEXT
Mount St. Mary’s will visit their second straight Pennsylvania-based opponent with a trip to Lehigh on Saturday. That game tips off at 2 p.m. The Mountaineers are 0-2 against the Mountain Hawks.
Pitt will renew the Backyard Brawl rivalry with West Virginia after a nearly four-year hiatus. The Panthers will host the Mountaineers on Saturday at 8 p.m. for the first time since Feb. 16, 2012. West Virginia won that game, 66-48, and leads the series, 96-88.
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