Pitt's rally falls short, Panthers run out of steam late vs. Texas A&M

Pitt’s buzzer-beating defeat of Ohio State Nov. 28, on top of being the most thrilling win of the season by the Panthers, was significant for a number of reasons.

It ended a two-game skid, washing away the taste of an unbecoming loss to Quinnipiac five days earlier and also went for Pitt’s first Power Five win of the season.

Another high-major opponent arrived at Petersen Events Center on Tuesday, as Pitt hosted Texas A&M and former Panther Federiko Federiko in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

The Panthers rallied in the second half, battling through a suffocating Aggies full-court press, but ran out of steam with about three minutes remaining before falling 81-73.

With about 12 minutes to play, Pitt (5-4) trailed by 12, but the Panthers rode a 16-0 run to take a 61-57 lead with 6:23 left.

But from the 4:36 mark, the Panthers trailed Texas A&M (7-2) and were unable to respond to a growing deficit.

Barry Dunning Jr. finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, complemented by Cam Corhen (15 points), Nojus Indrusaitis (15) and Damarco Minor (14).

A first-half basket by Corhen gave him 1,000 in his collegiate career, which began at Florida State and now is in its second year at Pitt.

Texas A&M was led by Rashaun Agee’s 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Offense was hard to come by for the Panthers over the game’s first four-plus minutes, as a putback basket by Dunning with 15:25 left in the opening half went for Pitt’s first field goal.

With 14:05 left in the half, a Pop Isaacs’ 3-pointer made it 14-5 Aggies, but less than a minute later, it was 14-10 as Dunning hit another shot and Omari Witherspoon drained a 3.

By the under-11 media timeout, a Indrusaitis shot from downtown had pulled Pitt within 14-13.

Texas A&M stretched its lead back to five at the 8:56 mark as Agee hit a short-range bucket, was fouled and made the ensuing free throw to put the Aggies up 22-17.

But a Minor 3-pointer moments later made it a one-basket game.

Minor, the hero of the Ohio State win, had another 3-pointer in him shortly thereafter at the 6:59 mark, making it a 26-23 score still in favor of the Aggies.

Two baskets in quick succession by Dunning prompted Texas A&M coach Bucky McMillan to call timeout with about five minutes before halftime.

Dunning first snagged an offensive board on a missed 3-pointer by Indrusaitis before depositing a layup and seconds later connected with Indrusaitis for an alley-oop layup created off a steal by Witherspoon.

Coming out of the timeout, it was Dunning who struck again with a dunk to lessen Pitt’s deficit to 30-29.

The teams combined for five points over the final three minutes of the half, with Texas A&M taking a 35-33 lead into the locker room.

Pitt scored the first four points of the second half, but a sloppy stretch allowed Texas A&M to get back ahead 42-37 less than two minutes in.

The Aggies turning to a full-court press gave Pitt major trouble as a turnover by Witherspoon was quickly turned into a 3-pointer by Ruben Dominguez.

With 17:05 to play, Dominguez rebounded his own shot, got back behind the arc and drilled another 3-pointer, making it 45-39 Aggies.

After Agee made it 52-43 with a pair of free throws, Texas A&M’s press again got to Pitt, which called a timeout at the 13:30 mark having failed to inbound the ball.

Federiko increased the Aggies’ lead to a game-high 11 about 45 seconds later with a layup, and at the under-11 media timeout, Pitt was down 57-45.

A technical foul on Texas A&M’s Mackenzie Mgbako, followed by a Dunning layup, got Pitt within striking distance, and after Corhen hit a bucket in the paint, it was a six-point game.

That led to another McMillan timeout, his team’s lead trimmed to 57-51 with 9:10 to play.

The brief stoppage in play did not stop Pitt’s rally, however, as the Panthers made it a 57-56 score on a Minor 3-pointer leading into a media timeout at the 6:53 mark.

Corhen hit a pair of free throws out of the break, and Indrusaitis hit a trey 31 seconds later to cap a 16-0 run by the Panthers, who now led 61-57.

The pendulum swung back in the Aggies’ favor over the ensuing minutes, and with 3:32 remaining, Pitt was trailing again 66-65.

Dominguez gave his team slightly more breathing room with 2:45 left, hitting a pair of free throws to make it 70-65 Texas A&M.

Agee delivered the dagger with a 3-pointer around the 1-minute mark.