Marquette Hands Pitt First Big East Loss

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Sixth-ranked Pitt hadn't lost at home or in the Big East Conference. After rallying from 11 points down against No. 24 Marquette to force an overtime, it didn't look like the

Monday, January 22nd 2007, 6:42 am

By: News On 6

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Sixth-ranked Pitt hadn't lost at home or in the Big East Conference. After rallying from 11 points down against No. 24 Marquette to force an overtime, it didn't look like the Panthers would lose this one, either.

Dominic James made certain they did.

James sank two free throws after being fouled with less than a second remaining in overtime and the Golden Eagles stayed tough against ranked teams, surprising Pitt 77-74 on Sunday.

In a tightly played and tightly officiated game, Marquette (17-4, 4-2 in Big East) won it by making its final 15 free throws, including 10 in overtime. James went 7-for-8 at the line and finished with 23 points, while Dan Fitzgerald hit three important 3-pointers while scoring 14.

The decisive free throws came after James, with time winding down, drove into a crowd and hurriedly threw up a shot. TV replays did not appear to show a foul being committed, but Pitt's Levon Kendall was called for bumping James.

``We had three guys around him,'' Pitt's Antonio Graves said. ``Aaron (Gray) is 7 feet, Levon is 6-10. I thought we had a good chance of defending his play or the shot he was taking.''

James, averaging nearly 19 points in three Big East games against Pitt, offered an uncommon explanation for his ability to make the free throws that turned a 74-73 Pitt lead into a 75-74 Marquette margin. Wesley Matthews added two more free throws after that.

``Ice water was going through my mind at the end,'' James said. ``I've never had two free throws to win a game like that.''

In the other games involving ranked teams Sunday, No. 20 Notre Dame cruised past South Florida 82-58 and No. 23 Virginia edged Maryland 67-64 in overtime.

Pitt (17-3, 5-1) doesn't lose like this very much, either, especially at home. The Panthers had been 12-0 there this season and 28-1 over the last two seasons, but they are 0-3 overall against ranked teams this season. Marquette is 4-1.

``We haven't lost a lot, and this is disappointing,'' Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. ``But there's not many times a team is going to go 10-of-10 at the line in overtime and lose.''

Ronald Ramon scored 21 points and Gray had 16 points and nine rebounds despite sitting out the final 3 1/2 minutes of regulation, when Pitt surged back after trailing 60-51 following successive 3-pointers by Fitzgerald.

The Panthers, who had never led or been tied since holding a 10-9 lead, sent it to overtime on Ramon's two free throws that made it 64-all with 3.5 seconds remaining. They led by as many as three in overtime.

``We did an excellent job of dealing with the adversity of the game,'' said Crean, whose Eagles won their third in a row on the road. ``We didn't get down mentally in overtime and found a way to win the game. Winning at Connecticut and Louisville before this helps a little bit''

Crean said James wasn't the first option on the play that led to his decisive free throws, but he wound up with the ball.

``He didn't need to be nervous at the end,'' Crean said. ``He makes so many big plays for us.''

Gray sat out two days of practice with a wrist injury after he had 22 points and 19 rebounds Tuesday in a 63-54 decision over Connecticut, but Dixon didn't felt that influenced the outcome.

``We knew we couldn't let him score,'' Marquette's Jerel McNeal said. ``We took him out of the game and that threw them for a loop.''

No. 20 Notre Dame 82, South Florida 58

Rob Kurz had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Colin Falls added 14 points and No. 20 Notre Dame got its 14th straight home win.

South Florida kept it close early, leading by as many as five points about 8 minutes in. However, the Irish (16-3, 4-2 Big East) ended the first half on a 21-2 run, holding the Bulls without a basket for the final 9 minutes to open a 42-26 lead at the break.

Kentrell Gransberry led South Florida (10-10, 1-5) with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

No. 23 Virginia Tech 67, Maryland 64, OT

Zabian Dowdell scored four of his 19 points in overtime and No. 23 Virginia Tech rallied after blowing an eight-point lead late in regulation to improve to 10-0 at home this season.

The Hokies (14-5, 4-1) saw a 58-50 lead disappear in the final 6 minutes of regulation when they managed just one more point, and then went ahead to stay on two free throws by Jamon Gordon with 3:08 left in overtime.

D.J. Strawberry scored 16 points to lead Maryland, (15-5, 1-4) which lost for the second time in five days in Virginia. The Terps scored just one point in a four-minute stretch of overtime after closing regulation with an 11-3 run to tie the game.