Troutman, Krauser lead Pitt’s second-half comeback

The question going into Saturday night’s Pitt-UConn matchup was “How will the Panther defense… The question going into Saturday night’s Pitt-UConn matchup was “How will the Panther defense stop the Huskies’ Charlie Villanueva, Josh Boone and Rudy Gay?”

Pitt’s answer was just one man: Troutman.

The senior forward scored 29 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the Panthers’ 76-66 win against UConn at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Villanueva, Boone (who fouled out with 3 minutes, 28 seconds remaining) and Gay combined for just 22 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.

“It was pretty hard for me to get [Troutman],” UConn forward Hilton Armstrong said. “He was low to the ground. He’s pretty strong and used his legs pretty good, his hands pretty well, too. He played smart.”

Troutman also scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half, as the Panthers (13-3 overall, 3-2 Big East) outscored the Huskies 41-25 in the final frame.

The Huskies (11-4, 3-2) came out of the locker room looking to continue what they started, building a 15-point lead with 17:26 left, but the Panthers started to chip away.

UConn began missing easy shots (shooting 27.6 percent in the second half), and the Panthers started making theirs.

Chris Taft hit a jumper, and Carl Krauser knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the UConn lead to 10. After UConn and Pitt exchanged scores, Krauser later cut the lead to eight by hitting all three free throws awarded to him after he was fouled by Marcus Williams outside the 3-point arc.

Troutman took over from there, scoring 23 points in the final 13 minutes and 20 seconds. He led Pitt to a 56-54 lead with a 9-1 run. He scored all nine points with layups, free throws and even a 3-pointer.

The 56-54 lead was the Panthers’ first of the game, and they wouldn’t give it back, despite a few late-game turnovers.

Krauser lost the ball along the side of the court to Denham Brown, who ran toward the basket and attempted a layup, but Levon Kendall swatted the ball away with authority.

But that was not the last scare.

With Pitt holding a 67-64 lead and only 1:19 left, Krauser turned the ball over, but unlike in the game against St. John’s, his turnover did not cost him or his team the game.

Gay’s 3-pointer fell short and hit the rim, and Taft came down with the rebound. Head coach Jamie Dixon called a timeout with 41 seconds left to get his offense in sync and prevent another costly, late-game turnover.

It worked, as Krauser held onto the ball, drew a foul and hit both free throws to increase the lead.

UConn fell apart after that, committing an intentional foul on a Troutman layup, allowing him to go to the line to complete the four-point play.

Krauser finished the game with 15 points and eight assists.

Dixon was impressed with his team’s comeback under the conditions. The crowd featured an extra 3,000 students because season ticket-holders who were unable to get to the game because of the blizzard conditions donated their tickets to students.

“It is obviously a hostile environment. It is a tough place to play. Their record speaks for itself,” Dixon said. “[Our] guys just did an unbelievable job getting it done. I really don’t know who to start with. But they battled and believed in each other and to come back and do the things that they did. We are proud of them, and we will use this to get better. The guys are happy and looking forward to getting back home.”

Leaving UConn with a win did not come easy for the Panthers. The game started out much like the year 2005 had started for Pitt. Coming into the game, Pitt had lost three of five this year, and by halftime, the Panthers were on their way to losing No. 4.

UConn went into the locker room with a 43-32 lead after jumping out to an 8-0 lead to start the game. Pitt fought back to tie the game at 15, and the Huskies’ offense exploded to take a 40-23 lead with 3:30 remaining in the half.

Rashad Anderson led the Huskies with 13 points in the first half, connecting on four of six shots from the floor (three of four from the 3-point line). He was held to only six points in the second half.

As a team, UConn shot 48.6 percent (17 of 35) from the field as compared to Pitt’s 36.7 percent shooting (11 of 30).

Pitt cut the lead to 11 points with an 8-0 run to finish off the first half. Taft scored half the points on a layup and two free throws.

Pitt, which is last in the Big East in free-throw shooting (63.2 percent), connected on 22 of 28 (78.6 percent) free throws against UConn.

The Panthers will be back in action Saturday at home against Syracuse. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.