Colson, Notre Dame hold off Pitt, 67-64
Boston College tops Ga. Tech to advance
NEW YORK — Bonzie Colson scored 19 points in 33 minutes, getting a full day's work in his third game back from injury as Notre Dame needed the star forward to hold off Pittsburgh 67-64 in its Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament opener Tuesday.
Jared Wilson-Frame made a 3 from the left wing for last-place Pitt (8-24) with 1:34 remaining to cut the lead to 61-58, and he missed another 32 seconds later. After a couple free throws by Notre Dame's T.J. Gibbs Jr., Marcus Carr hit another 3 to draw the 15th-seeded Panthers within 63-61.
Colson made two from the line with 22.3 seconds left after loose-ball foul on Carr that drew loud complaints from Pitt coach Kevin Stallings. Carr lost the ball on Pitt's next possession and 10th-seeded Notre Dame managed to close it out without any more drama.
The Irish play seventhseeded Virginia Tech on Wednesday.
Colson missed 15 games with a broken left foot before returning last week to play the final two games of the regular season. Against Pitt, the preseason AllAmerican looked fine in a game that was no beauty for the Fighting Irish. Colson's turnaround jumper was working early and he leaned into defenders for a couple more buckets. He finished 5 for 14 from the field, grabbed six rebounds and looked stylish in his emerald green sneakers with gold trim.
Matt Farrell scored 18 for the Irish, who shot 34 percent.
Notre Dame improved to 13-4 with Colson in the lineup and are hoping a good showing here at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn will convince the NCAA Tournament selection committee that, with a healthy Colson, the Fighting Irish deserve a spot in field of 68.
Pitt took a 12-point halftime deficit down to 48-45 with 9:00 left on a 3-pointer from Parker Stewart. Mostly, Notre Dame's poor shooting in the second half (4 for 24) kept the Panthers in it.
Pitt: Will Stallings be back for a third season with the Panthers? Firing a coach after two seasons is odd, but Pitt has been historically bad this season. The Panthers went 0-19 against the ACC. Plus, Stallings got into some trouble earlier in the year when he taunted a Louisville fan with a reference to paying players. On top of it all the athletic director who hired Stallings at Pitt, Scott Barnes, left for Oregon State last year.
Stallings, who left Vanderbilt for Pitt, is 24-41 and 5-34 against ACC opponents.
Boston College 87, Georgia Tech 77: Following its first winning season in seven years, Boston College has a chance to make some noise in March.
Ky Bowman had 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead the Eagles over Georgia Tech 87-77.
Sophomore forward Nik Popovic scored a careerhigh 20 points and Jerome Robinson, runner-up for ACC player of the year, added 19 for Boston College. Despite going 2 for 14 from 3-point range, the Eagles never trailed and were in control throughout against a banged-up Georgia Tech team that struggled to score all season.
With the league holding its postseason showcase in Brooklyn for the second consecutive year, a sparse crowd was on hand to see the 12th-seeded Eagles (18-14) advance to play No. 5 seed North Carolina State today.