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You name it, you had it in this knock-down, drag-out affair, which wasn't resolved until 0.4 seconds remained.

The Panthers eventually escaped with a 65-64 victory at Petersen Events Center on Saturday when junior guard Julius Page made a free throw with the clock precariously close to zero.

"This game had so many turns, we're just happy to get out of here with a win," Pitt coach Ben Howland said, shaking his head in amazement.

The biggest twist came after Georgetown freshman Brandon Bowman hit two free throws to tie it with 3.5 seconds to play. Immediately after, Page caught a sizzling inbounds pass from Jaron Brown at halfcourt — which was not the play designed by Howland — and was fouled going to the hoop by Georgetown's Drew Hall.

He made his first attempt, then missed the second deliberately, to ensure that Georgetown would have no chance at winning the game on a desperation length-of-the-court shot.

"It's a lot easier to miss them," Page said, flashing a sly grin.

Pitt partisans held their collective breath afterward in hopes that No. 1 Arizona would lose to Kansas. But the Wildcats won by 17, which means the second-ranked Panthers (15-1, 5-0 Big East) aren't likely to overtake Arizona in the national rankings.

Fact is, the Panthers will gladly "settle" for their No. 2 ranking, considering how close they came to losing at home for the first time in 17 games, considering how Georgetown became the first team to outrebound them all season (35-29) and considering how sophomore center Chevon Troutman was relied upon to make key free throws — and he did.

Georgetown (10-5, 2-3) came in with the type of chip-on-the-shoulder mentality that defined its program during the glory years of the 1980s, when showdowns with the Panthers featured bare-knuckle brawls and big-time banging inside with the likes of Patrick Ewing, Reggie Williams, Charles Smith and Jerome Lane patrolling the court.

The names have changed, but not the playing style. The teams were whistled for a combined 58 fouls, five players fouled out and a total of 67 free throws were attempted. Pitt was 24 of 41 from the line (58.5 percent) and Georgetown 19 of 26 (73.1).

Pitt senior point guard Brandin Knight and Georgetown's Drew Hall were whistled for double technicals after the two went chest-to-chest and Hall threw an elbow. And, big bodies were flying at every turn.

"If that's the way they want to play against us, we can do that," said Page, who finished with 10 points on 3 of 7 shooting. "We can be physical, too."

The battle of the big men went to Troutman, who outplayed Georgetown's 6-foot-8, 260-pound Mike Sweetney, who carries the tag as the best inside force in the Big East.

Troutman was 5 of 5 from the field, but, more importantly, he was 10 of 10 from the free-throw line en route to 20 points and three rebounds. Troutman, 6-7, 238, came in hitting his free throws at a 43.2-percent clip.

"I've been working at it," said Troutman, who was 9 of 9 from the line in the second half and scored all but one of his points in the final 20 minutes. "I just felt good out there."

Sweetney, who was averaging 21.9 points and 9.8 rebounds, finished with 12 points and five rebounds, due to a Pitt defense that often used two players to harass him.

Yet, even though Sweetney wasn't his dominant self, Georgetown jumped out to leads of 7-1, 12-6, 19-12 and 29-25 at the half. Pitt was abysmal from the field in the opening 20 minutes, going 7 of 26 (4 of 14 from 3-point range), and 7 of 16 from the foul line.

Knight, who had to be restrained after being called for a foul with no time left in the half, had three fouls and three turnovers at the break.

"I just didn't agree with all of the calls," said Knight, who finished with 10 points, five assists and five turnovers before fouling out with 16 seconds remaining. "They were calling it close. I guess they felt they needed to clean the game up."

Despite the attempts by the officials to "clean" things up, the game was feisty by nature, which seemed to play into Georgetown's hands, particularly when the Hoyas grabbed a 35-33 lead with 16:24 remaining.

But the Panthers, who hit eight consecutive field-goal attempts during a stretch in the second half, used a 15-2 run on the strength of 10 points by Troutman to take a 48-37 lead.

Georgetown answered with an 11-0 spurt to tie it at 48 with 8:57 to go, then the lead changed hands seven times before Pitt's top free-throw shooter Donatas Zavackas had a chance to put it away with 14 seconds left and the Panthers up by two.

He missed both, enabling Bowman to connect on his attempts. But Page foiled the upset bid in the end.

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