Pittsburgh trumps Pittsnogle

He didn’t make a shot from beyond the 3-point line, or inside it, either. A year after Pitt had no answer for Kevin Pittsnogle, he had no points and not much effect in a rivalry he personally decided last season.

Ronald Ramon and Aaron Gray scored 16 points each and No. 14 Pittsburgh clamped down on ninth-ranked West Virginia with its man-to-man defense, winning 57-53 Thursday night at Pittsburgh to snap a two-game losing streak.

West Virginia (17-5, 8-1 Big East) shot miserably – 34 percent overall and 22 percent (6-of-27) from 3-point range – in losing its first conference game this season, yet still was within three points in the final minute.

But Carl Krauser, held to three points until then, hit a driving layup with 39 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh (18-3, 7-3) held on to avoid its first three-game losing streak since late in the 2000-01 season.

Krauser scored five of his eight points during the final minute.

Pittsnogle’s 3-point shooting led two Mountaineers comeback victories over Pitt last season, but he quickly got into foul trouble while missing a number of off-balance shots in the first half.

The 6-foot-10 senior fouled out with 6:42 remaining after going 0 for 12, including six from 3-point range.

(15) Georgetown 64, St. John’s 41: At Washington, Brandon Bowman scored 16 points, Roy Hibbert had 14, and the Hoyas defeated the Red Storm for their seventh straight win.

Bowman and Hibbert were a combined 12 for 16 from the field, a one-two punch that accounted for 30 of Georgetown’s first 50 points.

(19) Ohio State 94, (22) Michigan 85: At Ann Arbor, Mich., Jamar Butler scored a career-high 20 points as the Buckeyes defeated the Wolverines for their first win at Crisler Arena since 2002.

The victory moved Ohio State into a three-way tie with Michigan State and Illinois for second place in the Big Ten. The three teams trail Iowa by a half-game.

Courtney Sims had 26 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for the Wolverines.

Women

Ashleigh Newman hit a long desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime, and Marissa Coleman scored five straight points afterward to put sixth-ranked Maryland ahead to stay in a 98-95 win that ended top-ranked North Carolina’s 30-game home winning streak at Chapel Hill. Crystal Langhorne scored 25 points to lead the Terrapins (22-2, 9-1 ACC), who rallied from a 14-point deficit in the final 12 minutes of regulation to shock the Tar Heels (22-1, 9-1).

(3) LSU 72, (5) Tennessee 69: At Knoxville, Tenn., Seimone Augustus scored 32 points and Scholanda Hoston added 18 as the Lady Tigers became the first Southeastern Conference team to beat the Lady Vols on their home court in nearly 10 years. … (10) Purdue 76, IPFW 52: At West Lafayette, Ind., Katie Gearlds scored 20 points, Aya Traore added 17 and the Boilermakers allowed only one basket in the last 7:42 as they pulled away from the Mastodons. … (14) Stanford 81, UC Santa Barbara 47: At Stanford, Calif., Jillian Harmon had 17 points and a season-high 11 rebounds to help the Cardinal defeat the Gauchos for their 11th win in 12 games. … (15) Michigan State 84, (11) Minnesota 61: At East Lansing, Mich., freshman Aisha Jefferson had a season-high 19 points, nine rebounds and five steals to help the Spartans defeat the Golden Gophers. … (16) Arizona State 77, Oregon State 67: At Corvallis, Ore., Kristen Kovesdy scored 14 points, Emily Westerberg (Central Valley High) added 12 points and nine rebounds, and Reagan Pariseau (CV) added 11 points as the Sun Devils defeated the Beavers. … (21) Boston College 57, Georgia Tech 55: At Boston, Kindyll Dorsey scored a team-high 18 points, including a baseline jumper with 7.8 seconds to play, to lift the Eagles over the Yellow Jackets. … (22) Vanderbilt 64, Arkansas 59: At Nashville, Tenn., Liz Sherwood, the nation’s leader in field-goal shooting, was 7 for 9 and finished with 16 points as the Commodores defeated the Razorbacks. … (24) Louisiana Tech 75, Nevada 34: At Ruston, La., Ty Moore had 18 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to lead the Lady Techsters past the Wolf Pack.