Feb 11, 2007 By Stephen Flinn For The 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Aaron Gray scored nine of Pitt’s first 13 points against Providence, but foul trouble limited him to only eight minutes of playing time in the first half. He more than made up for his absence in the second half, though.

Gray scored another 13 points after intermission to help the Panthers pull away from the pesky Friars for a 74-68 victory Saturday to stay atop the Big East.

“I was frustrated for sitting out so much in the first half due to some stupid mistakes I made,” Gray said. “I wanted to stay in there in the second half after I picked up my third foul (4 minutes in) so I worked harder to get good post position and get the ball close to the basket.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon thought about putting Gray back in with two fouls before the break, but reconsidered. His decision to keep the 7-foot center on the bench paid off.

“I felt if we could keep Aaron on the bench and go into halftime in good shape it would pay off,” Dixon said. “He fought through the foul trouble in the second half and finished well on the inside plays we ran for him so it ended up working out for us.”

The Panthers (22-3, 10-1 Big East) are usually strong on the boards, but were out-rebounded 41-33. The Friars scored 16 points from offensive rebounds compared to only six for Pitt.

“We knew Providence was a good rebounding team, because they are one of the best rebounding teams in the league,” Dixon said. “Their offensive rebounding, which usually led to good second-chance shots, really hurt us tonight.”

The Friars (15-8, 5-5 Big East) also took advantage Gray’s absence by scoring 16 of their 34 points in the lane and out-rebounding Pitt 21-17 in the first half. Herbert Hill led the charge with 20 points.

Dixon referred to Hill as an NBA player.

Providence coach Tim Welsh also credited Hill with getting Gray into foul trouble early. The Friars took a 34-33 lead at the half.

“Herbert took the ball to Gray and got him in foul trouble. Hill’s one of the best players in the country,” Welsh said. “When Gray wasn’t in the game, that was a plus for us. When he was on the floor, he was a weapon. He’s got the size, strength, experience, he’s got it all. He shot over us and went through us.”

Pitt stayed close for the first five minutes of the second half and retook the lead, 44-43, on Antonio Graves’ knifing lay-up and accompanying free throw.

Graves, who finished with 13 points, excelled in the final six minutes. He scored nine points in the final stretch, including a clutch 3-pointer with two minutes left to give Pitt its biggest lead of the game, 69-61. He also hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to ice the victory.

“My teammates swung the ball around and I rotated to get open,” Graves said. “I was able to draw some fouls and hit some shots late.”

Mike Cook broke out of a scoring slump and was the only other Panther to score in double-figures by adding 11 points.

“I put some extra time into my shooting and it paid off tonight,” Cook said. “I made my first shot and that was big because I felt in a rhythm.”

The Panthers will not have time to dwell on the win as they host Louisville Monday night.

“Louisville is dealing with it (one-day rest) as well,” Dixon said.

“We have to play what they give us and never look ahead so we’ll have to do some cramming to get ready.”