Blast from the Past

On a night when Pitt basketball honored its heroes of the past, it was the Panthers’ stars of… On a night when Pitt basketball honored its heroes of the past, it was the Panthers’ stars of the present who stole the show.

In front of a centennial celebration crowd of 12,719 that featured such Panther greats as Sam Clancy, Don Hennon and Brandin Knight, Aaron Gray scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds while Carl Krauser added 14 points and five assists as the Panthers pulled away from Providence 81-68. The crowd marked the second-largest on-campus crowd in school history.

The Panthers led by as many as 18 with just under four minutes to play in the first half before taking a 41-27 lead into the locker room. The Panthers had highlights on both sides of the ball through one half as Levance Fields came off the bench to lead the Panthers with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting, one rebound, one assist and no turnovers in 10 minutes.

On the defensive side, Friar Guard Donnie McGrath, who had lit the Panthers up just two weeks ago with 28 points, was held to just five points at halftime, en route to a season-low seven points in the game.

“We did a good job defensively on McGrath tonight,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “That was key for us.”

Where the door closed for McGrath, another one opened for freshman guard Sharaud Curry, who kept the Friars in the game with his second-half scoring. With the Panthers (21-4 overall, 10-4 Big East) looking comfortable with their big lead in the second half, Curry slashed through the lanes consistently on his way to 24 points and seven assists.

However, whenever the Friars (12-13, 5-9) knocked, the Panthers seemed to have the answer behind a newfound offensive surge. The Panthers, who have built their recent reputation on defense, scored 40 points in each half, and over 80 total points for the fourth straight game.

“The other teams I played on were more keyed in on defense,” senior Carl Krauser said. “The defense was going to bring our offense and that was it. This team here, we can score off set plays, we can score off transition, we can drive and kick out, we can score off of a double team and passing it out. We have a lot of weapons to play with.”

Gray, who finished with 22 points and nine rebounds against the Friars two weeks ago, narrowly missed another double-double on Saturday. For the season series, Gray scored 39 points and 18 rebounds, on 16-of-19 shooting from the field.

“My teammates did a great job of finding me,” Gray said. “A lot of times it wasn’t even me making a move, it was just me finishing. They were finding me and I was converting.”

The bench points statistic was once again lopsided in favor of the Panthers thanks to Antonio Graves’ team high 18 points, the second time this season Graves has come off the bench to lead the Panthers. Graves also chipped in four rebounds, three assists and no turnovers in his 24 minutes.

“Antonio’s been playing great in practice and it’s been carrying over into games,” Dixon said.

Fields finished the game with a near perfect line of nine points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field, 1-of-1 from the free throw line, two rebounds, four assists, two steals and no turnovers. Levon Kendall finished in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds.

“They can’t double-team all of us,” Graves said. “We’re pretty deep this year. That’s been a big key to our success.”

In the second half, the Friars got as close as six at 55-49, using a 12-2 run to make it a game. The Panthers answered with a Gray layup, a Graves layup and two foul shots by Levon Kendall to stretch the lead back to double digits, where it would stay for the rest of the game.

The win keeps the Panthers in a third-place tie with West Virginia, who also won on Saturday, beating Louisville. Tonight’s matchup between the Panthers and Mountaineers could be the deciding factor in who gets a bye in the upcoming Big East Tournament. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the contest will be aired nationally on ESPN.