Tyrin Lawrence sank two free throws with 1.1 seconds on the clock and Vanderbilt beat visiting Pittsburgh 75-74 on Wednesday at Memorial Gymnasium.
Pittsburgh (6-4) went on an 8-0 run in the final two minutes to go ahead 74-73 with 15 seconds to play. Out of a timeout, Vandy point guard Ezra Manjon drove to the left side of the basket and dished to Lawrence who was fouled going up for a shot.
Lawrence finished with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Myles Stute and Liam Robbins both scored 14 while Robbins finished one rebound short of a double-double.
Jordan Wright scored 12 points to go along with six assists and five rebounds.
The first half ended with a 34-34 tie after four lead changes and a pair of ties. Pittsburgh led by as many as five points with 3:35 left in the half—but the Panthers wouldn’t score again the rest of the period.
Vandy shot just 37.5 percent and gave up seven 3s, but scored 11 points off 11 Pittsburgh turnovers and got 18 of its points from inside the paint before going into the locker room.
The Commodores led by as many eight in the second half and were up 73-66 after a Trey Thomas 3 with 1:52 to go. That’s when Pittsburgh started its comeback that ultimately fell short.