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Pitt can’t hold 19-point lead

The Associated Press

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Wake Forest has blown a few big leads this season. The Demon Deacons had much more fun flipping that script against Pittsburgh.

John Collins tipped in a rebound with 18.8 seconds left, and Wake Forest staged its biggest comeback in 18 years, rallying from 19 points down to beat Pittsburgh 63-59 on Wednesday night.

Collins finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (16-12, 7-9 Atlantic Coast Conference), who let significant leads slip away in losses to Clemson and Florida State but turned the tables on Panthers — in the process matching the biggest comeback in school history — to avoid a loss that certainly would have crushed their NCAA Tournament bubble hopes.

“We’ve been on the losing end of a lot of games similar to this, but there’s not been one ounce of quit in any of these guys,” coach Danny Manning said.

Michael Young scored 24 points and Jamel Artis added 11 for the Panthers (15-13, 4-11), who had the ball with less than 30 seconds left in a tie game.

Collins stole the ball from Artis on the wing, and after Bryant Crawford brought the ball downcourt and missed a layup, Collins tipped it in for the lead.

Young missed a 3-pointer with about 10 seconds remaining but the rebound went out of bounds off Crawford’s hand with 5.6 seconds to play, giving Pitt a sideline inbounds pass — but Chris Jones’ cross-court pass went into the Panthers’ bench.

Coach Kevin Stallings, asked by reporters afterward about that pass, briefly lowered his forehead to the table before saying it “missed our mark by about 20 feet.”

Freshman Brandon Childress then hit two free throws with 4.8 seconds left to seal it.

“We played well enough, we were in position to win, we should have won, and we didn’t,” Stallings said.

Crawford finished with 10 points for Wake Forest.

For the Panthers, forget the 72-46 loss to Miami or the 106-51 humiliation at the hands of then-No. 13 Louisville. No loss will sting the Panthers more than this one. Pitt led 36-17 with 2:51 left in the first half before its collapse after halftime, missing 17 of its last 18 shots over the final 15 minutes. The Panthers were 4 of 24 from the field after halftime, and shot 30 percent for the game.

“It’s amazing that our defense even gave us a chance to win the game, shooting 30 percent for the game,” Stallings said.

Pitt visited each of the four ACC schools in North Carolina this season and lost them all by a combined 19 points.

The Panthers return home to play host to No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday.

PITTSBURGH (15-13): Jeter 3-11 3-3 9, Young 7-14 8-9 24, Artis 3-11 3-4 11, Johnson 2-10 3-4 9, Jones 0-1 3-8 3, Nix 0-1 0-0 0, Milligan 1-4 0-0 3, Kithcart 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-53 20-28 59.

WAKE FOREST (16-12): Collins 10-16 2-5 22, Mitoglou 1-5 5-6 7, Arians 3-8 0-0 8, Crawford 3-11 4-7 10, Woods 1-9 0-0 2, McClinton 1-1 0-0 2, Moore 1-1 2-2 4, Wilbekin 0-1 0-0 0, Childress 2-6 3-5 8. Totals 22-58 16-25 63.

Halftime–Pittsburgh 36-24. 3-Point Goals–Pittsburgh 7-23 (Young 2-4, Artis 2-6, Johnson 2-8, Milligan 1-3, Jeter 0-2), Wake Forest 3-15 (Arians 2-6, Childress 1-1, Mitoglou 0-1, Wilbekin 0-1, Woods 0-1, Crawford 0-5). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Pittsburgh 32 (Jeter, Johnson, Jones 7), Wake Forest 45 (Collins 13). Assists–Pittsburgh 11 (Johnson 4), Wake Forest 14 (Crawford 5). Total Fouls–Pittsburgh 22, Wake Forest 20.

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