CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a dramatic first-round match of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, Notre Dame secured a narrow 55-54 win against Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The tense game reached its climax when Nikita Konstantynovskyi tipped in a shot in the final minute, followed by Tae Davis, who sealed the victory with a free throw after a controversial foul.
With the score locked at 54-54, Notre Dame had possession with just 19.2 seconds on the clock. Markus Burton expertly ran down the time before making a play with about five seconds remaining. His contested shot didn’t find the basket, but Davis was quick to grab the offensive rebound. However, as his subsequent attempt rolled off the rim, a foul was called on Zack Austin, who was trying to defend against the putback. After a moment of suspense, involving a review to decide if time had expired, Davis successfully sank the first of his two free throws. Though he missed the second, Pittsburgh’s Jaland Lowe could not capitalize, with his long-range desperation shot falling short.
Thanks to this win, the 12th-seeded Fighting Irish (15-17) are set to face No. 5 seed North Carolina on Wednesday in the second round. Their previous encounter in the regular season was a close one with North Carolina edging out Notre Dame 74-73.
Leading the charge for Notre Dame was Davis, who contributed 11 points to the team’s effort. Konstantynovskyi was also pivotal, amassing 10 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Burton showed his prowess too, scoring 10 points accompanied by four steals, though he was also responsible for six of Notre Dame’s 17 turnovers.
Pittsburgh’s top scorer was Jaland Lowe, who put up 17 points despite a challenging 6-for-18 shooting night. Cameron Corhen added 10 points for the 13th-seeded Panthers (17-15).
The first half saw Konstantynovskyi adding six points and grabbing five rebounds, helping Notre Dame to establish a slim 25-22 lead at halftime. Lowe, in turn, contributed nine points for Pittsburgh. Shooting percentages were not in favor of the teams, with the Fighting Irish hitting just 37% from the field and missing 13 out of 16 from long range. Pittsburgh fared even worse, making only 28.6% of their shots and struggling with 10 misses out of 12 from beyond the three-point line.
