PITTSBURGH — No matter what defense Pitt tried against Chris Quinn, no matter what defender was used against him, he made shots — some from beyond the NBA's 3-point range. But on a night when no lead was safe against Notre Dame and its Quinn-led comebacks, what proved the Irish's undoing was their inability to hold one of their few leads.

Ronald Ramon hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the second overtime and No. 22 Pittsburgh withstood Quinn's 37 points and frantic Notre Dame rallies at the end of regulation and the first overtime for a 100-97 victory Wednesday night.

"We could have folded a half-dozen times and said it wasn't our night, but we never did," said a drained and disappointed Mike Brey, the Notre Dame coach. "I just wish we could have gotten him a win."

The Irish almost did, improbably, in a game they trailed by nine points in the final 45 seconds of regulation and seven points with a minute left in the first overtime.

"It's hard to say you played good defense when somebody scores 37 points, but I thought we did," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "I'm sure I'll see that guy scoring in my head the rest of the night. The guy made some unbelievable shots."

Aaron Gray scored a career-high 25 points and Carl Krauser added 21 points before fouling out late in regulation, but it was freshman Sam Young who did much of unbeaten Pitt's important scoring. He had only two points until late in the second half, but finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds as Pitt opened a season 12-0 for only the fifth time in its 100 years of basketball.

Levance Fields, another freshman who took over the offense after Krauser fouled out, scored 11 points.

"It was just a classic college basketball game," Krauser said. "And our young guys came through."

Quinn, a senior, scored 30 of his 37 points after halftime, including a remarkable 16 consecutive Irish points late in the second half. Notre Dame, which came in on a seven-game winning streak, rallied to tie it at 77 on two late 3-pointers by Colin Falls.

And, if one comeback wasn't enough, Quinn then hit a 3-pointer and a driving layup in the final 18 seconds of the first overtime to force another 5 minutes in the Big East Conference opener for both teams. The Irish (9-3) took advantage of Pitt's 8-of-15 free throw shooting in the first overtime to surge from behind.

Quinn was 6-of-9 from 3-point range while going 13-of-23 overall, and made all five free throws. He has 62 points in his last two games at Pitt, both losses.

"I haven't had a game like that since high school," said Quinn, whose previous career high was 26 against Michigan earlier this season.

But after rallying repeatedly in their fourth consecutive loss in Pittsburgh, the Irish couldn't hold a 97-94 lead created by Luke Zeller's dunk with 2:20 left in the second overtime. Young scored inside to cut it to 97-96 and, after Quinn lost his dribble and Pitt stole the ball, Ramon — who had 12 points — hit his 3-pointer only a few feet in front of Pitt's bench to win it. Gray added a free throw with 6 seconds remaining.

"There was no other option — my shot was what we planned for," Ramon said of his 3-pointer. "It was tough not having Carl in the overtime."

Quinn's second excellent game in Pittsburgh in as many seasons — he had 25 in a 68-66 loss last season — was one of the best individual efforts by a visiting player since Pitt moved into the Big East 24 years ago, but couldn't prevent the Irish's sixth loss in its last seven to Pitt.

Gray, a 7-foot junior taking advantage of Notre Dame's undersized frontline, had scored more than 17 points only once previously, getting 22 against St. Francis, N.Y. earlier this season. Krauser followed up a 22-point game in a 73-64 win over then-No. 24 Wisconsin, the only Top 25 team Pitt has faced.

Pittsburgh, playing its first game this season as a ranked team, overcame Notre Dame's excellent 3-point shooting at the start — the Irish hit five of their first six beyond the arc — to lead 34-30 at halftime. The Panthers pushed their lead to 45-36 after Krauser scored seven consecutive Pitt points on a 3-pointer and four free throws.

But the Irish went on a 9-1 run to take a 50-49 lead on Russell Carter's free throw. Carter had 16 points and Zeller added 11.