Pittsburgh (Pitt) defeated Mississippi State 60-59 in a First Four game on Tuesday night.
The game featured 21 lead changes, the most in the NCAA Tournament in five years.
Jamarius Burton made the go-ahead jumper with 10 seconds remaining, and Shakeel Moore missed a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner for Mississippi State with two seconds left.
D.J. Jeffries’ tip-in attempt was off target just before the buzzer.
Pitt was led by Nelly Cummings, who scored 15 points, followed by Greg Elliott with 13 and Blake Hinson with 12. This was Pitt’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2014.
They are now the 11th seed in the Midwest Region bracket and will face No. 6 seed Iowa State on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina.
After a three-minute scoring drought, Tolu Smith’s layup gave Mississippi State a 59-58 lead with 32 seconds left, but Pitt regained the lead with Burton’s short jumper.
Guillermo Diaz Graham’s block of Smith’s layup attempt with 2.7 seconds left set up the final sequence.
Dashawn Davis scored 15 points for the Bulldogs, and Moore added 13. Burton, who spent nearly seven minutes on the bench after picking up his fourth foul, said he knew his last shot was going in.
“When I had the ball in my hands the last 30 seconds or so, I just told myself I was built for it,” Burton said.
“And I just got to a spot and let it go, and I had complete confidence in myself.
That was pretty much everything that went down.”
Pitt coach Jeff Capel praised his team’s toughness and resiliency, saying, “We were who we’ve been all year, and it wasn’t pretty — but it was beautiful.”
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