Fast start propels Panthers

NEW YORK CITY — Pitt’s first real test of the season was more like a quiz.

The Memphis… NEW YORK CITY — Pitt’s first real test of the season was more like a quiz.

The Memphis Tigers (5-3) fell behind early against the Panthers (6-0) and never caught up, eventually falling 70-51 in the Jimmy V. Classic at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night.

Pitt raced to a 17-3 lead before Memphis head coach John Calipari called a timeout.

It didn’t help Calipari’s team though, as the Tigers went on to commit 17 fouls in the first half. Among those was an intentional foul on Rodney Carney and a technical foul called on Calipari that allowed Pitt guard Carl Krauser to score four of his 17 points on the ensuing free throws.

The early run started with forward Chris Taft tipping in a missed shot by Krauser. Panther guard Antonio Graves followed by scoring five of Pitt’s next seven points. He pushed the Panthers ahead of the Tigers 9-2 with a layup and a three-pointer.

A three-point play started when Chevon Troutman stole the ball in the paint, then tossed it out to Krauser who ran up the court and dished the ball off to Graves. The sophomore guard settled at the three-point line and knocked down the three-point shot.

“He made some great drives to the basket,” head coach Jamie Dixon said of Graves. “I think sometimes he doesn’t realize how good he can be.”

The Panthers capped the 17-3 opening with buckets from Troutman and Taft.

Troutman’s basket was scored after his team regained possession on a free throw that he missed.

Taft extended the lead to 14 points after a hard-nose play by Krauser. Krauser obtained the ball in a scramble on the floor. From the ground, the point guard fed Taft who was cutting through the paint for a layup.

The technical foul and intentional foul came after Pitt had grabbed at 23-10 lead. From there, the Panthers continued to pour on points, taking a commanding 41-23 halftime lead.

In the half, Memphis hit only nine of its 29 shot attempts and sent Pitt to the free-throw line to attempt 26 free throws.

“The start of the game was ugly,” Calipari said.

Fouls were not the only thing plaguing the Tigers. Memphis connected on only 30.6 percent of its shots with leading scorer Rodney Carney only managing 11 points — seven of which came in the team’s dismal first half.

Despite the large lead, which Pitt increased to as many as 24, the Panthers struggled in the second half with fouls and turnovers.

Moving to a full-court press to take the Panthers out of their offensive rhythm, the Tigers closed the gap to 64-51 with a three-pointer and a layup by Sean Banks. But fouls began to catch up with them. Anthony Rice committed his fifth foul on the ensuing possession, sending him to the bench for good.

Dorsey followed his act by committing an offensive foul on the next Tiger possession with less than two minutes to play.

Three other players on the Memphis roster finished the game with four fouls. The numerous fouls forced the Tigers’ players to play carefully, and allowed Pitt to continue its physical play that tired the Memphis defense.

“I [saw] fatigue,” Krauser explained after the game. “When you play physical, a lot of teams tend to back down.”

Memphis did just that, and Calipari admitted to a mistake he made before the season started.

“I screwed up,” Calipari said about scheduling Pitt, Maryland and Syracuse in the early season. “I thought we were going to be better than we were.”

Pitt, on the other hand, showed the nation a little of what it could expect when the Big East schedule starts. Taft said that the team wanted to go out and show people how good they are, but admitted the team hadn’t reached its potential yet.

“Our best game hasn’t come yet,” he said.

Pitt will continue its two-game December road trip when it travels to Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday.