Senior forward Bonzie Colson had 19 points and three blocked shots in his third game since returning from a broken foot and Notre Dame registered a 67-64 victory over hapless Pittsburgh on Tuesday in the opening round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in New York.

Senior guard Matt Farrell added 18 points for the Fighting Irish (19-13), who shot just 34 percent from the field. Junior guard Rex Pflueger added 13 points and sophomore guard TJ Gibbs Jr. had 11 as 10th-seeded Notre Dame never trailed during the contest at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Junior guard Jared Wilson-Frame and freshman guard Marcus Carr scored 18 points apiece but couldn't prevent Pitt (8-24) from extending its program-worst losing streak to 19 games. The Panthers went 0-18 in ACC regular-season play, and the future of second-year coach Kevin Stallings is in jeopardy.

Freshman guard Parker Stewart scored 14 points for the 15th-seeded Panthers, who shot 39.3 percent from the field.

Notre Dame faces seventh-seeded Virginia Tech in Wednesday's second round.

The Fighting Irish led by 11 points with under three minutes to go but the Panthers weren't folding. Pitt rattled off eight straight points with Wilson-Frame knocking down two 3-pointers to cut the Fighting Irish's lead to 61-58 with 1:37 remaining.

Gibbs made two free throws to give Notre Dame a five-point edge before Carr buried a 3-pointer to pull the Panthers within 63-61 with 47.9 seconds remaining.

Colson made two free throws with 22.3 seconds left and Farrell added two with 10.8 seconds left to put it away.

Pittsburgh trailed by 16 points late in the first half but trimmed the deficit in half to trail 42-34 on Wilson-Frame's basket with 11:52 left.

Carr's 3-point play pulled the Panthers within 48-42 with 9:32 remaining and Stewart drained a 3-pointer 36 seconds later to make it a three-point game.

Colson hit two free throws and Gibbs added a layup as Notre Dame led answered with a 10-3 surge to take a 58-48 advantage with 4:46 remaining.

Farrell had 10 first-half points and Notre Dame limited Pittsburgh to 28.1 percent from the field en route to a 36-24 halftime lead.

The contest was tied at 12 seven minutes in before Pflueger drained a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run and put the Fighting Irish ahead to stay.

The Panthers moved within 21-17 on a basket by freshman wing Shamiel Stevenson with 8:28 remaining before Notre Dame erupted with a 15-3 push. Farrell ended the run with a 3-pointer to make it 36-20 with 1:44 left.

--Field Level Media