PITTSBURGH - Ronald Ramon barely beat the final horn with a game-winning 3-pointer from the left wing and No. 21 Pittsburgh rallied in the final minute to beat cold-shooting rival West Virginia 55-54 on Thursday night.

Pittsburgh's Ronald Ramon hits a buzzer beating three-point shot against West Virginia University at the end of the basketball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008. Pittsburgh won 55-54. (AP Photo/Don Wright)

The Panthers (18-5, 6-4 Big East) got an important win that substantially helps their NCAA tournament hopes and damages those of West Virginia (16-7, 5-5), which led 53-50 with a minute to play but couldn't find a way to finish it — mostly because of terrible foul shooting.

Alex Ruoff, an 85 percent free throw shooter, missed one of two free throws with 9 seconds remaining to prevent West Virginia from taking a three-point lead. That miss — the Mountaineers were only 7-of-17 from the line — proved costly when an unguarded Ramon took Keith Benjamin's giveback pass and hit the game winner.

Sam Young and Keith Benjamin scored 10 each for Pitt, which beat the Mountaineers for the fourth time in a row and the 10th time in 13 games. DeJuan Blair had 12 rebounds, but was limited to 7 points on 3-of-13 shooting.

Darris Nichols scored 16 and Joe Mazzulla had 15 for West Virginia, which lost its third in four games.

West Virginia repeatedly hurt itself at the foul line down the stretch, with Joe Alexander and Da'Sean Butler each missing two free throws apiece.

When the Mountaineers finally made two free throws, by Alexander with slightly more than 4 minutes remaining, they were wiped off — the officials reviewed the game tape and decided Cam Thoroughman should have been on the line instead. He went to the line and missed the front end of the 1-and-1.

The erased points restored Pitt's 48-45 lead, and Brad Wanamaker scored on a drive to the basket the next time to give the Panthers a five-point lead, but West Virginia rallied to score the next eight points.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins — apparently unhappy with a defensive breakdown that led to Wanamaker's basket — screamed at Alexander for most of a 60-second time out, then pulled his leading scorer for the next 3 minutes. Huggins' tirade must have had a positive effect as the Mountaineers scored the next eight points to retake the lead at 53-50 on Nichols' bank shot 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:22 remaining.

Alexander, also pulled by Huggins in the first half when the two had an apparent disagreement over defensive responsibilities, was held to five points on 2-of-11 shooting, or nine points below his average.

West Virginia, which has lost seven of eight in Pittsburgh, took an early 13-9 lead but Pitt responded with a 10-0 run that was finished off by Blair's midcourt steal and jam. In a game featuring frequent lead changes and ever-shifting momentum, West Virginia came back with a 7-0 run and led 27-26 at halftime.

The pattern held in the second half. West Virginia scored eight of the first 10 points to make it 35-28, but Pitt scored the next eight to regain the lead at 36-35.

Maybe West Virginia's all-gold uniforms were the bad omen in a game in which it shot only 35.8 percent (19-of-53). The Mountaineers football team wore the same color scheme during its stunning 13-9 loss to Pitt on Dec. 1 that ended West Virginia's national title hopes.