When the game is on the line, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell wants the basketball to be in the hands of Chase Hunter.

That was again the case Saturday at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. With time running down and the Tigers’ clinging to a two-point lead in overtime, Hunter drained a game-clinching three-pointer to lift Clemson to a dramatic 78-75 victory over Pitt.

“That is a big-game shot,” Brownell said. “It is just a guy stepping up making a play.”

It’s a play in the Tigers’ two previous overtime games this year Hunter was unable to make. He had two opportunities in regulation and overtime to beat Memphis back on Dec. 14 and then again three days later against South Carolina, though he did bank in a three-pointer to force overtime against the Gamecocks as time expired in regulation.

However, shooters are supposed to keep shooting because eventually they hit those game winners, regardless of what has happened in the past. Such was the case on Saturday.

After the Panthers’ Jaland Lowe tied the game at 66 thanks to a driving layup with 19 seconds to play, Hunter had an opportunity to win the game for the Tigers. As time was running down, Hunter tried to drive the lane and create a foul, but Ishmael Leggett stripped the ball from him with five seconds to play to force overtime.

“I like the fact that he tried to get down hill and got to the elbow, but they got a hand in there,” Brownell said. “It was a very physical game in the paint. It was hard to score.”

However, Hunter, who scored a game-high 20 points, kept shooting and eventually got his redemption.

With 36 seconds to play in overtime, Leggett pulled Pitt within two points, 75-73, thanks to a short jumper in the lane.

With one timeout in his pocket, Brownell trusted Hunter to make a play, so he let his graduate guard take the clock down to about 15 seconds, where he started to drive to his left, but then stepped back, straightened his feet and knocked down a triple from the left wing with 14 seconds to play.

The 3-pointer quieted the pro Pitt crowd of 10,500 and iced the Tigers’ victory.

“Neither team shot a bunch of free throws, which was probably good,” Brownell said. “There was a lot of contact and there was a lot of physicality. It is what you want. You want players to decide those things.

“On the second one, he stepped back and made a big-time shot for three.”

Hunter’s shot moved the Tigers to 15-4 overall and 7-1 in the ACC. The win allows Clemson to keep pace with Duke (7-0) and Louisville (7-1) in the ACC standings. It was also a Quad 1 road win for the Tigers over a Pitt team that fell to 12-6 and 3-4 in the ACC.

Clemson handed the Panthers their first loss at home in 10 games this year and has now won 13 straight games over Pitt regardless of the venue.

“For my group to bounce back in overtime, and to finish the game the way we did, I just could not be prouder of them,” Brownell said. “We had a couple of overtime games (earlier this year) we were not able to finish, and in this environment, against this team… This was a big win for us.”

—photo by Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images