(REUTERS) — Dwyane Wade scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the third-seeded Golden Eagles to a 77-74 victory over second-seeded Pittsburgh Thursday night in the Midwest Regional semifinals at the Metrodome.
Chevon Troutman scored seven of his 15 points in the final 2:56 to lead a furious Panthers rally, but Marquette hung on as Pittsburgh was eliminated in the round of 16 for the second-straight season.
Lovable Coach McGuire led Marquette to the 1977 national title, and the Golden Eagles hadn’t been to a regional final since.
Marquette (26-5) will play top-seeded Kentucky Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Final Four in New Orleans. The Wildcats beat Wisconsin 63-57 earlier.
Brandin Knight led Pittsburgh (28-5) with 16 points. His three-point attempt could have tied it with about three seconds to go, but he came up short.
Travis Diener, who scored 55 points in the Golden Eagles’ first two victories over Holy Cross and Missouri, was held to four points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Trailing by 10 with 3:56 to go, the Panthers scored nine straight points to pull to 71-70 with 1:17 to go.
Robert Jackson was called for traveling on the baseline with 2:20 remaining, and Troutman was fouled on an acrobatic layup at the other end, completing the three-point play to make it 71-68.
Wade missed a one-handed jumper, and Troutman’s layup pulled Pitt within one with 1:17 on the clock.
Scott Merritt — who had 17 points — made a pair of free throws to put Marquette up 73-70, but Knight’s layup cut the lead back to one.
With the shot clock running down, Wade drove the lane and sank a layup high off the glass to make it 75-72 with 23.4 seconds remaining.
Knight — a 53 percent career free-throw shooter — made two foul shots to cut the lead to 75-74.
Merritt hit a pair of free throws on the other end, bumping it back to 77-74 with 11.4 seconds remaining.
Knight dribbled down the floor, pump-faked Wade in the air and launched a three, but it banged off the rim. Todd Townsend grabbed the rebound passed to Diener, who was fouled.
Diener missed both foul shots with 2.3 seconds left, but Carl Krauser’s half-court attempt at the buzzer sailed over the basket as gold-clad Marquette students stormed the court.
