Last-second shot lifts Gold over Blue

Like newborn babies taking their first steps in a new surrounding, the Pitt men’s basketball… Like newborn babies taking their first steps in a new surrounding, the Pitt men’s basketball team began their 2002-2003 schedule with the annual Blue vs. Gold Intersquad scrimmage.

Expectations are higher then ever, as Pitt is ranked No. 4 in the ESPN/ USA Today poll, and this game was a chance to break in the new rims at the Petersen Events Center.

While the opponents in this game were familiar faces, and the crowd seemed hesitant to cheer for one side, this was the first chance for Pitt fans to witness several new players, but out of all the freshman, it was redshirt freshman point guard Carl Krauser that stole the show.

“Yes, [Carl Krauser] is really that good,” point guard Brandin Knight said. “You saw it tonight.”

Krauser turned in a 15-point performance, while dazzling the fans with several behind the back, no look passes to teammates. In all, Krauser had eight assists while only turning the ball over twice.

“I make solid, little flashy plays,” Krauser said. “My role is to help us win games, be solid, and give Brandin [Knight] a breather.”

Through one half of basketball, both sides seemed cold and hesitant to play hard against other teammates in the opposing jersey. The Gold squad led the Blue squad 34-26 at halftime, but in the second half, head coach Ben Howland decided to switch the teams around.

The Gold squad featured most of the stars from last season, such as Knight, Julius Page and Jaron Brown. Meanwhile, the Blue squad came out with new sensation Krauser, Ontario Lett and Chevron Troutman.

“You can’t get down and dirty with your own players,” Page said. “I know what everyone on our team can do. I’m just waiting for our opponents.”

This scrimmage also marked the first official game action defending co-Big East Player of the Year Knight had played in since having surgery in the off-season.

On Monday, doctors cleared Knight to play and he was on the court with his teammates last night. Not yet in game form, Knight still turned in a 13-point, eight assist performance and added the game winning basket with only seconds left on the second half clock.

Down by one with seconds left to play, Knight found himself at the free-throw line with a chance to give the Gold squad the lead. Knight missed both free throws but Brown came down with the rebound and quickly called timeout.

On the inbounds play, Knight spotted Lett turned around and facing away from him. Knight proceeded to throw the ball off Lett’s back, then quickly jump inbounds to get the loose ball and hit the easy game winning lay-up to give the Gold a 36-35 second half win.

“We had a play set up,” Knight said. “But [Lett] is an easy guy to set up.”

The leader scorer on the night belonged to Julius Page. Page scored 26-points including five three-pointers on 8-for-14 shooting from the field. He even sparked the crowd with an alley-oop in the second half off a perfect pass from Knight.

“We are further along at this point then we were last year,” Howland said. “It’s exciting Julius [Page] shot so well.”

With Krauser now involved in the mix, Pitt has four guards in Knight, Page, Krauser and Brown. With all this depth, Howland will be able to give Page and Knight a rest for a few minutes during games. However, Knight doesn’t look at the rest he will be getting; he has high expectations for the guards.

“I think we have the best backcourt in the country,” Knight said.