Cincy hands Pitt first loss
Cincinnati's 44-43 victory gives Pittsburgh its first loss in 11 games.
TITUS RUBLES' rebound basket with 4.2 seconds to play gave Cincinnati a 44-43 victory over previously unbeaten Pittsburgh last night in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.
It was appropriate the winning points came after a missed shot in a game where neither team shot 38 percent from the field.
Justin Jackson had 12 points to lead the Bearcats (8-2), who had lost two straight, and most of his points came on his seven offensive rebounds. He had nine rebounds total. Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati's leading scorer at 19.3 points per game, finished with nine on 4-for-13 shooting including going 1-for-8 from three-point range.
Talib Zanna had 12 points for the Panthers (10-1), one of 14 Division I teams to start the day without a loss, while Lamar Patterson added 11.
Pittsburgh did not have a field goal for a 13:43 stretch in the second half, a drought that ended with a drive by Cameron Wright with 1:07 left that gave the Panthers a 43-42 lead. Patterson missed two free throws with 21 seconds left. Cincinnati worked the clock down and Kilpatrick missed a drive but Rubles got the rebound and scored. He had six points and two rebounds.
Wright took a running jumper from just inside midcourt as the buzzer sounded.
In Top 25 games
* At Michigan State, Adreian Payne scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half and the fifth-ranked Spartans (9-1) rolled to a 78-48 victory over North Florida.
Branden Dawson added 12 points and Denzel Valentine scored 11 for the Spartans, who were ranked No. 1 in the country before a loss to North Carolina on Dec. 4.
Jalen Nesbitt scored 11 points for the Ospreys (5-7).
* At Oklahoma State, Le'Bryan Nash had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead the No. 7 Cowboys (10-1) to a 75-43 win over Delaware State (0-9), which got 12 points and eight rebounds from Kendall Gray.