Perhaps No. 1 Connecticut is the best team in the nation, but it will have plenty of games like Tuesday night's, when every second is a struggle. In the Big East, that's just the way it is.
"This league will not allow you to breathe," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. "If you're not good every night, you're going to get beat. It's that difficult. In all my years in this league, I've never seen anything like it."
It was just the second loss this season for Pittsburgh (17-2, 6-2 Big East), which lost earlier this month to St. John's.
The game was not decided until the final seconds. With six seconds remaining, UConn's Marcus Williams made two free throws, the latest response to a Pittsburgh rally.
In defeat, the Panthers continued to earn respect. Pittsburgh was unranked to begin the season and has not had an easy time winning over critics.
"They can keep their heads up because they took the No. 1 team in the country down to the wire," UConn's Denham Brown said.
Rudy Gay led Connecticut (19-1, 7-1) with 22 points. Josh Boone had 16, and Williams had 11 points and 11 assists for the Huskies.
The 7-foot center Aaron Gray led Pittsburgh with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
After shooting 50 percent from the floor, UConn took a 43-34 lead at halftime. Gay made 6 of 8 field-goal attempts and had 14 points.
It was the sixth time in the Panthers' last seven games that they trailed at halftime.
"We knew we couldn't let up against them," Williams said. "We knew they would fight back. They always fight back."
UConn remained in control during the opening minutes of the second half, but Pittsburgh rallied. The Panthers put together a 9-0 run to tie the score at 45-45 with 15 minutes 5 seconds remaining.
In that run, Carl Krauser made a free throw after Calhoun was called for a technical foul.
Gay stopped Pittsburgh's streak with a 3-pointer, the first of the game by either team, with 14:26 left. But the Panthers answered every time it appeared UConn was going to pull away.
With less than a minute left, Pittsburgh had a chance to go ahead, but turned the ball over instead. Gay recovered the ball and made a layup with 51.5 seconds left while being fouled. When he made the free throw, UConn had a 75-71 lead. Antonio Graves missed a 3-pointer on Pittsburgh's next possession.
Williams then made one of two free throws for Connecticut, and Levance Fields countered with a 3-pointer. But after Williams made his late free throws, Pittsburgh had no more replies. Still, it had put up quite a battle.
"We're a league of 16 now," Calhoun said. "It seems like the old wars of the '80s and '90s again. Every game comes down to 10 kids on the floor after loose balls, someone making a big play, someone getting a big rebound, someone making a stop."
Pittsburgh remains without a victory against No. 1 teams in 14 attempts.
Connecticut has another tough game Saturday at Indiana.
Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, despite making only one field goal in the second half to lead the Los Angeles Lakers over the New York Knicks 130-97 on Tuesday.
The NBA's leading scorer averaged 43.4 points in 13 games this month, highlighted by his 81-point outing that was the second-best scoring game in NBA history.
Qyntel Woods scored 15 points and Quentin Richardson had 14 for the Knicks, who were called for five technical fouls -- two on coach Larry Brown -- and a flagrant.
Nets 91, Pistons 84
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Jason Kidd had 23 points and 12 rebounds to help New Jersey snap the Pistons' NBA-best 11-game winning streak.
Richard Jefferson and Nenad Krstic each scored 19 for New Jersey (23-20), which snapped a four-game losing streak. The Nets won their ninth straight game at Continental Airlines Arena.
Chauncey Billups led Detroit (37-6) with 30 points, including 6-for-6 from 3-point range. The Pistons, who entered the game shooting 46 percent from the field this season, were 30-of-82 (37 percent). Leading scorer Richard Hamilton scored 19 points, three below his average, but shot 8-for-24 from the field.
Wizards 84, Pacers 79
At Washington, Gilbert Arenas scored 20 points, and Antawn Jamison had 19 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Wizards over Indiana, which lost its sixth straight game in a mostly ineffective debut for Peja Stojakovic.
Caron Butler added 13 for the Wizards, who have won eight of 11 to move within one game of .500. They can reach the break-even mark for the first time since early December with a win Wednesday at Toronto.
Stojakovic, acquired last week from the Sacramento Kings for Ron Artest, scored 17 points on 4-for-10 shooting, including 1-for-6 from 3-point range, and was limited to 26 minutes because of foul trouble. Ten of his points came in the fourth quarter, mostly when the Pacers were trying to overcome a double-digit deficit.
Suns 123, 76ers 99
At Philadelphia, Boris Diaw had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists for his first career triple-double, leading Phoenix.
Raja Bell scored 21 points, Steve Nash had 17 and Shawn Marion had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacific Division-leading Suns.
The Sixers, who came in tied with New Jersey for first place in the Atlantic Division, were without Allen Iverson for the third straight game.
John Salmons had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia. Andre Iguodala added 16 points and Chris Webber scored 15.
Mavericks 98, Bulls 94
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points, the most important an open 3-pointer that helped prevent a major second-half meltdown and stretching the Mavericks season-best winning streak to nine straight.
Dallas moved back into a tie with San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference (35-10), with defense continuing to play a leading role. The Mavs have given up fewer than 100 points every game in all nine wins and 16 of their last 20 games.
Dallas has won 15 of 16 against Chicago.
Kirk Hinrich led Chicago with 28 points, 26 coming in the second half, and seven assists.
Kings 98, Nuggets 91
At Sacramento, California, Ron Artest scored 19 points in his home debut, Kevin Martin added a career-high 25 and Sacramento held on for their 19th straight home victory over Denver.
Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points and Kenyon Martin added 21 for the first-place Nuggets, who lost their third straight following a seven-game winning streak.
Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith could become the third player to win consecutive NBA slam dunk contests when he participates in the event during All-Star weekend on Feb. 18 in Houston.
Michael Jordan won back-to-back competitions in 1987-1988 and Jason Richardson did it in 2002-2003.
Joining Smith this year will be Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers, 1.76m guard Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks, and Hakim Warrick of the Memphis Grizzlies.
The winner will get US$35,000, the runner-up gets US$22,500 and the third and fourth finishers get US$16,125 each.
Judges for the event all have ties to the Houston Rockets. Clyde Drexler, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes and Kenny Smith were all stars for the team and former coach Rudy Tomjanovich led the Rockets to two NBA titles.
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