Minor’s late putback gives 15-seed Pitt 64-63 win over Stanford in opener of ACC Tournament

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Damarco Minor followed his own miss to score with 0.7 seconds left and give 15th-seeded Pittsburgh a 64-63 win over 10-seed Stanford in the opening game of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday.

Minor finished just 2-of-10 shooting, missing all seven of his 3-point attempts, but sent the Panthers (13-19) into the second round against seventh-seeded NC State on Wednesday.

After Ebuka Okorie gave Stanford the lead on a three-point play with 26.2 seconds remaining, Minor missed a 3-pointer but the Panthers came up with the ball after a scramble. Minor missed a short jumper in the paint but put in the game-winner.

Okorie, coming in as the nation’s second-leading freshman scorer at 23.1 points per game, finished with 14 for Stanford (20-12). Benny Gealer scored 11 points and AJ Rohosy had 10 points and a team-leading seven rebounds.

There were in 11 lead changes and four ties with Pitt prevailing on the strength of 20-7 advantage on the offensive boards, outscoring Stanford 25-7 in second-chance points and by 12 in the paint.

Pitt broke a tie by scoring the final eight points of the first half for a 31-23 lead. Stanford rallied to take a lead five times in the second half.

The Cardinal had beaten the Panthers 75-67 on Feb. 25 at home to start a four-game win streak heading into the tournament.

Up next

Pitt: The Panthers lost 81-72 at home to NC State on Jan. 24 in their only regular-season meeting.

Stanford: The loss looks to have ended the Cardinal’s NCAA hopes as they await their postseason fate.

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