Vanderbilt’s Tyrin Lawrence hit a pair of free throws with 1.1 seconds left, leading the Commodores to a 75-74 win over visiting Pitt at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday night.
Pitt’s Nelly Cummings had just hit a 15-footer from the right side with 15 seconds left, the last points in an 8-0 run that gave the Panthers (6-4) the lead.
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But Pitt’s Greg Elliott knocked Lawrence to the floor as he missed a layup on the ensuing trip. Lawrence stepped to the line and hit both charity shots.
After the Panthers’ desperation heave into the front court, the Commodores’ Liam Robbins blocked Jamarius Burton’s shot as time expired.
Vanderbilt (5-4), which attempted 20 more shots from the field, snapped Pitt’s five-game winning streak.
The Commodores blocked 12 shots, six coming from Robbins, who had a game-high nine rebounds and tied forward Myles Stute with a team-high 14 points.
Elliott scored a game-high 20 points and hit several big 3-pointers late for Pitt, which hit 48 percent of its 25 3-point attempts.
The Panthers also got double-figure scoring from Cummings (18), Blake Hinson (14) and Burton (10).
Jordan Wright added 12 points, six assists and five rebounds off the bench for Vanderbilt.
Robbins hit a fadeaway jumper in the paint to put Vanderbilt up seven with 2:26 left, and Elliott answered with 2:15 left.
Trey Thomas countered with a 3 and then Elliott hit a jumper for a 73-68 lead before Stute was whistled for a push-off on the other end.
PItt’s Federico Federico hit a free throw on the ensuing possession and the Commodores lost a loose ball out of bounds on the missed foul shot. Elliott then canned his sixth 3 of the evening with 1:07 left to get the Panthers within one.
After Vanderbilt missed a shot, Cummings put Pitt back ahead until Lawrence answered for the win.
Lawrence hit a corner 3 from the right side to give Vanderbilt a 64-56 lead with 5:32 left, the biggest lead for either team.
–Field Level Media
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