#25 Irish overcome shooting woes, wins at #20 Pitt

After starting out the first 13 minutes shooting just 1-for-19, it's hard to believe that the #25 Fighting Irish climbed their way out of that hole and fought their way back to defeat #20 Pittsburgh, 51-42.

Thanks in huge part to Jack Cooley and Jerian Grant for igniting the Notre Dame offense late in the first half and the rest of the way to fuel the Irish to their 21st victory of the 2012-13 season.

With the stellar backcourt of Jerian Grant, Eric Atkins and Pat Connaughton, someone had to get the hot hand and help dig the Irish out. It started out with two consecutive 3's by Connaughton and with 5:31 left in the half, Pittsburgh's 19-3 lead had shrunk to 19-9 on just two shots.

Grant and Atkins each knocked down two free throws and Pitt was up just 19-13 with 4:13 in the half. Dante Taylor upped the Panther lead to 21-13. Jack Cooley (4) and Zach Auguste (2) combined for six to cut the Pitt advantage to two before Taylor sank a free throw. The Irish had a couple opportunities in the final moments, but Connaughton's three attempt with :39 left was off the mark and Pitt led 22-19 at half.

Notre Dame hadn't led since a slight 1-0, but things were about to change. The Irish jumped back ahead 29-28 on a Jerian Grant trey with 14:44 left. Cooley added two more for a 31-28 lead, but that wouldn't last long.

Pitt went on a 4-0 run to retake the lead 32-31, sparked by two straight layups by Cameron Wright and James Robinson.

With 10:53 on the clock, Atkins drove to the basket for a layup to put ND up 33-32 and that was for good. From that point on, Notre Dame held Pitt in-check 18-10 down the final stretch to steal a huge Big East road win at the Peterson Events Center, 51-42.

After their terrible shooting start (1-19), #25 Notre Dame finished the first half on 5-of-8 shooting and then topped it off with 60% (12-20) in the second half to take down the host #20 Pittsburgh Panthers.

#20 Pittsburgh (20-7, 8-6 BE) was led in scoring by Tray Woodall with just 11 points and Steven Adams chipped in with 8.

Cooley and Grant were the two that paced the #25 Irish (21-6, 9-5 BE) with 13 points each. Eric Atkins had 10 points and 7 assists to anchor Notre Dame's underrated backcourt in this Big East road victory.

Notre Dame heads home with plenty of time to prepare for a Sunday visit from the Cincinnati Bearcats (19-7, 7-6 BE). Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Joyce Center at Purcell Pavilion. It'll be a nationally televised game on CBS.