Men's Basketball Loses at Pittsburgh, 77-71

Jan. 28, 2006

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Antonio Graves, seldom-used most of the season, and Carl Krauser led a decisive 10-0 run late in the game and No. 12/10 Pittsburgh overcame a sluggish start and a 12-point deficit to beat Marquette, 77-71, Saturday.

Graves scored 19 points in easily his best game of the season and Krauser added 16, including five in a matter of seconds after it was announced he had moved past mentor Brandin Knight on Pitt's career scoring list.

Aaron Gray had 13 points and 20 rebounds -- three more rebounds than his previous career high --to help Pitt to an overwhelming 45-30 edge on the boards that proved decisive during the turnaround second half.

Pitt (17-1, 6-1 BIG EAST) improved to 13-0 at home with successive wins over Syracuse and Marquette after losing for the first time, at St. John's, last Saturday.

Graves, a junior guard who started much of last season, had gotten little playing time since BIG EAST play began and had scored only 11 points in Pitt's previous nine games. But he came in early in the game after coach Jamie Dixon briefly benched all of his starters with Pitt down 13-5 and wound up playing 24 minutes.

Marquette (15-6, 5-3), the only one of the BIG EAST's five new members with a winning record in conference play, rode its excellent outside shooting early to leads of 8-0, 13-3 and 19-7.

But Pitt went on the first of two 10-0 runs in the second half to take a 52-47 lead on Graves' three-pointer. Marquette later regained the lead at 56-54 on Jerel McNeal's basket, but seemed to lose its offensive rhythm down the stretch when its second-leading scorer, freshman Dominic James, sat out for 7 and-a-half minutes with a shoulder injury.

Just ahead of Graves' three-pointer, Pitt had taken its first lead at 49-47 on Krauser's steal and layup seconds after he had tied it with a 3-pointer. The burst came immediately after he learned he had passed Knight into 13th place on Pitt's career scoring list. Knight was Pitt's point guard ahead of Krauser and watched the game several rows behind Pitt's bench.

Marquette regained the lead at 58-56 on Joe Chapman's basket with 6:26 remaining, but Pitt went on its second and decisive 10-0 run keyed by Graves' go-ahead three-pointer, Krauser's three-point play and Graves' two free throws.

James initially injured his shoulder running into a screen set by the 7-foot Gray in the first half, then aggravated it during a collision with about 13 minutes remaining. James finished with a team-high 16 points in 30 minutes, but the Golden Eagles struggled for long stretches with James sitting down and leading scorer Steve Novak effectively contained.

Novak, who averages 16 points and had 41 in an earlier upset of No. 1 Connecticut, fouled out late with eight points and has only 13 in his last two games. He had a combined 52 in the two games before that.

Reserve Ryan Amoroso added 14 points for Marquette.

Graves' 19 points were a career high, topping the 18 he had against Penn State last season and were 10 more than the nine he had in Pitt's first six conference games combined. He hadn't scored in double figures since doing so twice in Pitt's first three games.

Marquette returns to action on Wednesday, February 1, hosting St. John's at the Bradley Center at 7 p.m.