Notre Dame shakes off slow start to defeat ..

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Pittsburgh • Jerian Grant and Jack Cooley scored 13 points each and No. 25 Notre Dame overcome a horrendous shooting start and beat No. 20 Pittsburgh 51-42 on Monday night.

The Irish missed 18 of their first 19 shots and trailed 19-3 as late as 13:54 into the game. However, they rallied to take the lead in the second half and won going away.

Eric Atkins added 10 points and seven assists for Notre Dame (21-6, 9-5 Big East), which has won five in a row over Pittsburgh (20-7, 8-6) and snapped a tie with the Panthers for fourth place in the conference. The top four teams get a double-bye in next month's league tournament.

Tray Woodall had 11 points to lead the Panthers, who lost for the second time in three days since winning seven of eight.

No. 14 Kansas St. 71, West Virginia 61 • In Manhattan, Kan., Will Spradling scored 19 points and Kansas State used a big first-half run to beat West Virginia, ruining the return of Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins to the school he helped rebuild.

Nino Williams had 13 points, and Angel Rodriguez added 11 points and seven assists for the Wildcats (21-5, 10-3). They slipped into first place in the Big 12 by a half game over ninth-ranked Kansas and No. 14 Oklahoma State.

Notre Dame shakes off slow start to defeat Pitt