The Lowest Seed Lives Another Day in ACC Play

The Atlantic Coast Conference tipped off their 2026 conference tournament in the "Queen City" of Charlotte, North Carolina, with the 15th-seeded Pittsburgh Panthers (12-19 overall, 5-13 ACC) taking on the 10th-seeded Stanford Cardinal (20-11 overall, 9-9 ACC) inside the Spectrum Center, a.k.a. "The Hive", home of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Charlotte Hornets.

With the game tied at 23 at the 3:49 mark on a step-back jumper by Cardinal senior guard Benny Gealer, the Panthers would respond by scoring the final eight points of the first half, going ahead 31-23 at the break.

However, Stanford would have a response in the second half, out-scoring Pittsburgh 22-10 by the 12:57 mark, rolling ahead 45-41 on the Panthers.

Pittsburgh would keep the seesaw going, scoring six unanswered points to take back the lead, 47-45.

By the 8:54 mark of the second half, there were six lead changes between the two squads, with the last of these six on the side of the Panthers when senior forward Cameron Corhen made a putback layup to bring the score to 51-50 Pittsburgh.

Sophomore forward Donavin Young would move the Cardinal ahead once again on a hook shot with 1:40 remaining that made it 60-59 Stanford.

Pittsburgh's rebuttal came from senior guard/forward Barry Dunning, Jr., 39 seconds later at the 1:01 mark when he sent the ball home from long range to give the Panthers a 62-60 lead.

Freshman guard Ebuka Okorie would get three of his own, this from an old-fashioned three-point play, with 26.2 seconds left on the game clock to result in the ninth lead change of the second half, with the Cardinal up 63-62.

Multiple offensive rebounds would aid Pittsburgh late, including fifth-year guard Damarco Minor getting his own rebound at the rim to get the ball in off the glass for a 64-63 lead with 0.7 seconds remaining. This also served as the 10th lead change of the second half.

The Panthers would block the heave attempt by Stanford, leaving the Cardinal with the ball, down one with 0.4 seconds on the clock.

After review by the officials, the clock was ruled to have run to the final zeroes, with Pittsburgh winning 64-63 in "The Hive".

The Panthers advance the 7th-seeded N.C. State Wolfpack in Round 2 of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, at Noon ET on ESPN2.