PITTSBURGH — Ryan Cline caught the ball at the top of the key, hesitated for just a second and let it fly. A minute later he found himself open in the corner and did it again. On Purdue’s next trip down, the freshman stood all alone behind the 3-point line one more time.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

Not bad for a kid playing the first big minutes of his career.

Cline scored all 12 of his points in the second half — including those three consecutive 3-pointers — to give the 11th-ranked Boilermakers the spark they needed to surge past Pittsburgh 72-59 on Tuesday night.

“He’s the best shooter I’ve ever been around,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.

Cline certainly looked like it, brushing off two first-half misses to go 4 for 4 over the final 20 minutes to help Purdue push its record to 7-0.

“Obviously the first half couldn’t really get anything to go,” Cline said. “My teammates, they were in the locker room telling me to keep shooting the ball.”

With center Isaac Haas hampered by foul trouble and senior guard Rapheal Davis out with a minor knee injury, Purdue survived behind Cline and senior center A.J. Hammons — who finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 10 of 15 from the field.

The Boilermakers needed them after Pitt (4-1) erased a 17-point first-half deficit, taking its only lead on a jumper by James Robinson that put the Panthers up 44-43 with 12:21 to play.

A 3-pointer by Cline put Purdue back in front and after a Sheldon Jeter shot drew Pitt within 50-49, Cline added three more 3s during the game-deciding 11-1 run.

“We knew (Cline) was a shooter coming in,” Robinson said. “Like I said, we had some mental mistakes. We left him open in the corner and he hit the shots.”

Robinson led the Panthers with 17 points and Michael Young added 16 points and 12 rebounds but Pitt shot a season-low 35 percent and made just 4 of 19 3-pointers.