NEW YORK — Luke Harangody came off the bench and hit three key free throws in the final two minutes, helping Notre Dame hold off No. 16 Pittsburgh 50-45 in the Big East tournament quarterfinals Thursday night for its season-best sixth straight victory.
Harangody and Tory Jackson each had 12 points in a bruising, defensive struggle. When the dust finally cleared, the Fighting Irish (23-10) had consecutive wins in the Big East tournament for the first time since joining the league for the 1995-96 season.
Seventh-seeded Notre Dame will play Cincinnati or No. 7 West Virginia in the second semifinal Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Brad Wanamaker scored 16 for Pittsburgh (24-8), knocked out in its Big East tournament opener as the No. 2 seed for the second straight year. Before that, the Panthers reached three finals in a row and seven in a span of eight seasons.
With former President Bill Clinton sitting a few rows back near midcourt, Pittsburgh became the third ranked Big East team with a double bye into the quarterfinals that lost its tournament opener Thursday.
No. 3 Syracuse and No. 10 Villanova were the others, meaning the squads with better seeds were 0-3 so far Thursday.
Playing without an injured Harangody, the Fighting Irish began their winning streak with a 68-53 victory over then-No. 12 Pittsburgh on Feb. 24. They pulled this one out despite going nearly nine minutes without a field goal in the second half.
Notre Dame led almost the entire way and outscored Pitt 10-6 over the final 6:56. The Panthers dropped to 24-11 at Madison Square Garden since 2000-01, losing for only the fifth time in their last 17 games here.
Harangody, who entered as the tournament as the nation's second-leading scorer at 23.3 points per game, missed five games late in the regular season with a badly bruised right knee. Notre Dame lost the first two by a combined three points before putting together three consecutive wins without him.
He's been coming off the bench since his return, and he looked healthy Wednesday night while posting 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 68-56 win over Seton Hall.
But the senior forward was inconsistent against a physical Pittsburgh squad, and he sat out for a long stretch late in the second half, a white towel draped over his knees.
Jackson's 3-pointer put the Irish up 46-40 with about 3:26 left, and Harangody re-entered when forward Carleton Scott fouled out with 3:12 remaining.
Harangody's free throw made it 47-43 with 1:52 to go, but Wanamaker hit an acrobatic layup to pull Pittsburgh within two.
After Harangody was called for traveling, Wanamaker missed a driving layup and Jermaine Dixon was off on a tough, spinning bank shot.
Harangody grabbed the rebound and sank two free throws with 15.9 seconds left, making it 49-45. Tim Abromaitis blocked Travon Woodall's attempted layup, and Pitt never scored again.
College Sports
Harangody, Notre Dame hold off Pittsburgh 50-45
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