PITTSBURGH – Luke Loewe scored his first points of the game on a put-back with 2.4 seconds left to keep the Minnesota Gophers undefeated this season by escaping Pittsburgh in a 54-53 win Tuesday night.
Loewe inbounded the ball to E.J. Stephens to make a one-on-one play for the game-winner with 7.5 seconds to play trailing by a point, but he had the instinct to follow the shot.
The Panthers failed to box out the 6-3 senior guard who soared in to grab the ball with two hands and score the deciding basket for the Gophers (6-0), who won their first true road game since the 2019-20 season.
Payton Willis (15 points) and Jamison Battle (16) were the only players in double figures with a combined 31 points for the Gophers, who erased an eight-point deficit in the second half.
Battle was the first Minnesota player to go to the foul line in the game Tuesday when he hit 1 of 2 to give his team a 48-47 lead with five minutes remaining.
After the Panthers answered for the 11th lead change in the game, Willis' tip-in shot got the Gophers within 53-52 with 34 seconds to play.
For the first time this season, first-year Gophers coach Ben Johnson played on another team's home floor. Johnson inherited a program that had lost 12 straight true road games.
Minnesota hadn't won a true road game since Feb. 23, 2020, at Northwestern under Richard Pitino, who went 0-10 in the Big Ten away from Williams Arena last season.
Johnson hoisted a trophy on the road when the Gophers won the Asheville Championship in North Carolina, but they defeated Princeton and Western Kentucky on a neutral site.
Pittsburgh's arena was far from a bustling atmosphere, but there was also a big difference playing against a power conference opponent for the first time this season.
The Panthers (2-5) had lost three games at home this season by double digits, but Jeff Capel's squad still featured Big Ten-type size and athleticism. And that became the biggest difference.
Nothing the Gophers had faced before Tuesday night prepared them to battle Pitt's 6-9, 280-pound John Hugley in the post. Hugley carried his team in the first half with 15 of his 25 points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for a 24-22 halftime lead.
During one stretch, Hugley scored 16 straight points for the Panthers to lead them to a 29-22 advantage after spinning past Eric Curry for a reverse layup just under 18 minutes left.
Curry, the only productive inside presence for the Gophers this season, picked up his third foul with about 16 minutes remaining in the second half. But he had to reenter the game after backup Charlie Daniels got called for his fourth foul a few minutes later.
The Gophers saw only a glimpse of how tough it will be to hold their own in the paint against power conference big men in the next three games. They play Sunday at Mississippi State before opening early Big Ten play vs. Michigan State and Michigan.
Femi Odukale's jumper capped a 9-0 run to give Pittsburgh its biggest lead at 42-34, but Battle showed why he's the Gophers' leading scorer with eight straight points to tie the game.
After a hard fall early in the first half, Battle was quiet until midway into the second half, but his late surge wasn't too late to help Minnesota with a spark to have a chance in the end.
The Gophers were outscored 28-20 in the paint and outrebounded 40-33, but they made the plays needed down the stretch, including Loewe's heroics.
The William & Mary transfer had just two points and three rebounds, but he saved his best play for last.
