Pitt Holds Off Notre Dame

Julius Page and Jaron Brown led a second-half comeback, and No. 13-ranked Pittsburgh shook off Chris Thomas’ 29 points and Notre Dame’s strong outside shooting for a 74-71 victory Monday night in a Big East Conference men’s basketball game at Pittsburgh.

Brown had 19 points and Page 18 as the Panthers (17-0, 3-0 in Big East) withstood five three-point field goals by the Irish (8-4, 2-1) in the final 2:33 -- three by Chris Quinn and two by Thomas -- to win despite nearly wasting a nine-point lead.

No. 17 Syracuse 82, Missouri 68 -- Orangemen Coach Jim Boeheim gained his 665th victory in the nonconference game at Columbia, Mo. Boeheim’s 665-227 record in 28 seasons at Syracuse (12-1) pulled him ahead of John Wooden for 19th place on the Division I win list. The Tigers dropped to 6-6.

Utah 72, Nevada Las Vegas 67 -- Nick Jacobson, one of only two seniors for Utah, scored 27 points -- including the clinching free throws with nine seconds left -- and the Utes (13-3) opened their Mountain West season with a victory over the Runnin’ Rebels (9-4).

Portland 77, Loyola Marymount 68 -- The Pilots (7-8, 1-1 West Coast Conference), who had led by as many as 17 points in the first half, held off a second-half comeback by the Lions (8-6, 0-2) at Gersten Pavilion. Loyola tied the score, 47-47, and took a 51-49 lead with 9:58 left on two free throws by Sherman Gray, who had a career-high 26 points.

Portland began a run to regain a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

WOMEN

No. 25 Michigan State 64, Detroit Mercy 41 -- The Spartans (11-3) beat the Titans (6-7) at East Lansing, Mich.

From Associated Press