Ramon gives Pitt a spark

Carl Krauser had two options: pass to Chevon Troutman or put the ball on the floor and win the… Carl Krauser had two options: pass to Chevon Troutman or put the ball on the floor and win the game himself.

He chose the latter in Pitt’s 68-66 win against Notre Dame Saturday afternoon.

Troutman, who could not get open down low with the score knotted at 65, came out to set a screen. Krauser utilized Troutman’s maneuver and drove through the paint, hitting a runner to give Pitt (17-4 overall, 7-3 Big East) a 67-65 lead.

“I just decided to use the screen, and I knew once I get in the lane I’ll have a shot,” said Krauser, who finished with 16 points. “So I just wanted to get that shot up there.”

“Chevy set the screen, which he’s so good at,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “You know, that’s Carl’s shot. It was good to see it go down.”

Krauser’s go-ahead bucket left 9.6 seconds on the clock for Notre Dame to shoot for two to tie or take the lead with a 3.

The Irish (14-7, 6-5) moved up the court quickly, and Chris Thomas opted to pass down low to Rick Cornett, who, before he could shoot, was immediately fouled by Mark McCarroll.

Cornett stood at the free-throw line, surrounded by 12,293 screaming fans, and missed his first shot badly, not even hitting the rim. He made the second, but it did not matter, as the Irish were still trailing by one with four seconds left.

After Pitt freshman Ronald Ramon, who scored 13 in the contest, knocked down one of two free throws, the Irish had one last attempt with 2.5 seconds left, but Thomas could not handle a long inbound pass. Levon Kendall secured the loose ball until the clock hit zero.

Fueled by 3-pointers, the Irish put together a rally to overcome a 13-point first-half deficit and take the lead. Notre Dame took its largest lead of the game at 49-44 with 12:55 remaining in the game, but the Panthers used a 16-4 run to go up by seven.

A four-point play by Ramon highlighted the run and gave Pitt a 51-50 lead. Standing in the right corner, Ramon threw up a 3-point shot while being fouled and knocked to the floor. Lying on the hardwood, he watched his shot bounce on the rim twice before it finally dropped through.

“Yeah, after two minutes,” Ramon joked.

He pumped his fist in celebration and got up to finish the play with a free throw. He finished the game with four rebounds and three assists to go with his 13 points, all coming off the bench — an option Dixon has not had in the past two games.

“He’s a guy we got to have on the floor,” said Dixon of Ramon, who sat out the West Virginia game and saw limited action against St. John’s because of a shoulder injury. “We definitely missed him these last two games.”

Krauser agreed with his coach regarding how badly Ramon is needed.

“It was real important [to have him back],” Krauser said. “He gives us a great defensive presence, as well as offense, and he hits a lot of shots. You know, it’s hard to guard a guy like Ron. He’s fast, he’s got great ball handling skills, he can pass, and he’s just lethal from outside.”

Pitt then continued to roll, going up by as many as eight points, but Irish guard Chris Quinn scored nine consecutive points for Notre Dame to tie the game at 65. Quinn, who scored a game-high 25 points, hit the Irish’s second-half 2-point field goal at the 2:48 mark.

Prior to the shot, all of the Irish’s second-half offense came on seven 3s — three from Thomas, who finished with 16 points. A deep 3 from Quinn tied the score at 65, setting the stage for Krauser’s final shot.

Despite allowing three Notre Dame players to reach double-digit scoring, Pitt held the Irish to 40.4 percent shooting. This comes after Pitt’s great defensive showing Tuesday night against St. John’s, which hit only 28 percent of its shots.

Forward Chris Taft saw only 17 minutes of action and only four minutes in the second half. Aaron Gray filled the void, scoring nine points, pulling down two rebounds and blocking two shots in 15 minutes of play, which seemed like an eternity to Gray.

“Man, I felt like I played 45 minutes today,” Gray said. “It was real exciting to get out there. I wasn’t expecting it. I just make sure I’m always ready to go in there any time [Dixon] needs me to go in there.”

“We wanted to be real physical with them,” he added. “Every time they ran out of the court on offense, we wanted to let them know we were still there. We weren’t going to let them go where they wanted to go.”

Pitt will have a quick turnaround and head to Syracuse for a Valentine’s Day rematch against the Orange. The Panthers broke their hearts on Jan. 29 in a 76-69 victory at the Petersen Events Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.