MORGANTOWN, W.VA. ? Dan Miller was having a lousy night — until the end of the game.

The senior forward was just 2-of-13 from the field, but his inside basket with 18 seconds left gave No. 12 Notre Dame a 56-55 victory over West Virginia on Tuesday night.

“He missed a lot of open shots, but to his credit, he was there at the end for us,” said Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey. “He’s hit a lot of big shots all year for us.”

Notre Dame (20-5, 8-3 Big East) earned its fourth straight 20-win season the hard way. Its last five games have been decided by six points or less.

“We’re making a habit of this,” Brey said.

Despite letting a 15-point lead slip away, the Irish stayed tied with Pittsburgh for second place in the West Division, one-half game behind first-place Syracuse. No. 15 Syracuse beat St. John’s, 66-60, Tuesday night and No. 9 Pittsburgh beat Georgetown, 82-67.

Matt Carroll led Notre Dame with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Chris Thomas added 13 points and Torin Francis had 11.

Drew Schifino had 19 points for the Mountaineers (13-10, 4-7), who lost their eighth straight to the Irish.

Notre Dame seemed to be in control after Carroll hit a three-pointer for a 48-33 lead with 11:39 left.

Brey knew that lead wouldn’t stick.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to win by double digits on the road. I don’t care what we’re ranked,” he said.

West Virginia clawed back despite being outrebounded badly for the second time by Notre Dame this season.

Freshman Joe Herber, whose mother and sister flew in from his native Germany to watch him play, made his only basket of the game to tie the score at 52 with 1:49 left.

Thomas hit a floater in the lane with 1:02 left. Freshman Kevin Pittsnogle’s three-pointer 22 seconds later gave West Virginia its only lead of the game, 55-54.

Michigan State's Chris Hill, right, tries to pass past the defense of Illinois' Deron Williams. Hill scored 12 points, but Illinois won 70-40 Tuesday night in Champaign, Ill.

Miller took a feed from Thomas and scored the game-winner from beneath the basket.

“I saw Chris driving, and I saw an open spot underneath. I’m not really the hero,” said Miller, who once was voted the “Unsung Hero” as a sophomore at Maryland. “It was a team effort. We did a great job defensively.”

Miller, who transferred to Notre Dame after three seasons at Maryland, finished with four points, 10 below his average. He missed all six of his three-point attempts.

“It was frustrating, but you’ve got to keep playing,” Miller said. “I was getting great looks. They were just rimming out.”

Schifino missed two shots in the final 7 seconds around a missed free throw by Miller.

Notre Dame shot just 38.3 percent for the game, while West Virginia shot 40.4 percent.

Freshman Patrick Beilein had a career-high 13 points for West Virginia, which starts three freshmen and two sophomores.

No. 9 Pittsburgh 82, Georgetown 67

Washington — Brandin Knight, shaking off a senior-year slump, scored a season-high 23 points as No. 9 Pittsburgh beat Georgetown. Knight, who has been struggling to match his third-team All-America season from a year ago, was 7-of-12 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line in scoring more than 20 points for only the second time this season.

He took over the game down the stretch, scoring seven points in an 11-4 run that gave Pitt an eight-point lead with seven minutes to play. He also had six assists.

Knight, who entered the game shooting 33 percent from the field and 45 percent from the line, has battled a sprained ankle and the flu at various times this season.

Donatas Zavackas, in his first game as a reserve, added 17 points and was 3-of-4 from three-point range for the Panthers (18-4, 8-3 Big East).

No. 15 Syracuse 66, St. John’s 60

Syracuse, N.Y. — Carmelo Anthony scored 12 of his 21 points in the second half as No. 15 Syracuse outlasted St. John’s. The Orangemen (18-4, 9-3 Big East) went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line over the final 35 seconds to win their 17th consecutive home game. Their 15-0 home start this season is their best ever in the Carrier Dome.

Marcus Hatten had 22 points and a school-record 10 steals for St. John’s (12-10, 5-7), which set a Big East record with 41 3-point attempts. The Red Storm connected on only nine threes, however, as they lost for the fourth time in five games.

No. 20 Illinois 70, Michigan State 40

Champaign, Ill. — Freshman Dee Brown had 24 points, five rebounds and five steals and No. 20 Illinois held Michigan State scoreless for a 9:38 span in the second half. Brown, a 6-foot guard, seemed to be involved in every play. He made two steals to spark an 18-0 run in the first half and led capped several fast breaks with layups before leaving the game with 5:42 to play.

The Illini (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) pulled away for good when Brown’s layup with 11:42 to play sparked a 21-0 run that put them up 69-28.

No. 22 Georgia 74, Alabama 69

Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Jarvis Hayes scored 23 points and No. 22 Georgia survived a comeback attempt to beat Alabama, the Crimson Tide’s sixth loss in eight games. The Bulldogs (15-7, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) watched a 13-point lead trimmed to four during the final 2:21 before nudging the former No. 1 team a step closer to not receiving an at-large berth for the NCAA tournament.