01:00 AM EST on Thursday, February 16, 2006

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE -- When all else fails, pure size can do an awful lot of damage in a basketball game.

The Friars found that out the hard way last night as Pittsburgh's deep set of big men, and most notably 7-footer Aaron Gray, had their way inside to lead the Panthers to an 85-77 win. After talking at the half on concentrating on pounding the ball inside against PC's zone defense, Pitt shot 60 percent in the second half and made 14 of 21 shots from the foul line. More important, the team's defense overwhelmed PC's inside game as Herbert Hill was held to eight points and Randall Hanke managed only six.

"They are good, and their big guys are very good and really run the floor well," Pitt coach Jaime Dixon said of the Friars. "In the second half, we did a much better job inside and on the boards, and that helped us a lot."

Gray, a junior from Emmaus, Pa., had 18 of his 22 points in the second half. He also grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked two shots. Gray was a perfect 9 of 9 from the field. He's averaging 14 points and 10.6 rebounds, the only player in the Big East averaging a double-double.

"Aaron's doing a good job of keeping the ball up around the basket," Dixon said. "We've worked an awful lot with him on not bringing it down, and now he never brings it down.

PC's Hill tipped his hat to Gray and the rest of Pitt's front line after the game. "They did a good job attacking our zone, and their big guys can crash the boards," he said. "We needed to do a better job on defense holding them back in the second half."

Pittsburgh and Connecticut own the most physical frontcourts in the Big East, and that size almost led the Panthers to a road win over the Huskies two weeks ago. UConn eventually hung on for a 80-74 win.

Starting lineup changes

Tim Welsh went with two starting lineup changes and the new five led the team to a quick 18-9 start. Hill and Chuck Burch started in place of Hanke and Weyinmi Efejuku after continuing their strong place of late over the last seven days of practice.

The start could've served as a reward of sorts for Hill. In the six games before last night, Hill emerged and averaged 14.3 points on 66-percent shooting and also grabbed 5.7 rebounds a game. Last night Hill started quickly with two early hoops but he was ultimately neutralized and shot 3 of 10 from the floor for eight points.

Tough home schedule

This season's rugged home schedule has shaped up as the toughest in PC's Big East history. Last night's game against the ninth-ranked Panthers was the Friars' fifth against a team ranked in the top 10. The others were Connecticut (No. 1), Memphis (No. 7), Louisville (No. 9) and Florida (No. 10).

The last time the Friars faced five teams ranked in the top 10 at home was in 1979-80, the first year of the Big East. That season, PC hosted top-ranked Duke, Louisville (No. 3), Syracuse (No. 4), and St. John's twice when the Redmen were ranked seventh and eighth.

PC and Pitt frosh are tops

PC and Pitt may have the best freshmen classes in the Big East. The Friars start two freshmen in Curry and Geoff McDermott, and Efejuku and Jon Kale play key roles off the bench. Pitt does not start a freshmen, but three newcomers entered the game very quickly last night and helped a lot. Sam Young, a 6-foot-6 jumping-jack forward, had two great first-half blocks. Tyrell Biggs adds another strong banger up front, while point guard Levance Fields backs up Carl Krauser and helps him handle pressure at times.

kmcnamar@projo.com / (401) 277-7340