Carl Krauser: I don’t think it’s any secret that I’m a fan. Chris Thomas had the slightly better stat line: 16 points (6-12), 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover versus 16 points (6-14), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 4 turnovers. The difference, Thomas disappeared in the last minutes of the game. Krauser rose to the occasion. Thomas’ own coach says to judge a point guard by wins and losses. Krauser at the helm has Pitt 3-0 versus a Thomas led ND.
Chevon Troutman: Solid, but not great game. He spent most of the time banging around inside. Wearing down the entire corp of ND big men. 13 points (4-9 FG, 5-7 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block and 2 turnovers. Keep in mind, though that the ND big men couldn’t score inside. Their center, Jordan Cornette got 9 of his 10 points shooting 3s. Francis, Latimore and Cornett combined for 4 points and 12 rebounds.
Ronald Ramon: Key scoring early in the game. Solid defense late. Not a great overall shooting game, 4-11 and 3-8 on 3-pointers to get 13 points. Had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a turnover. Did a solid job running the point for Krauser while he was being fixed on the sideline.
Antonio Graves: The longer the game went, the more exposed his perimeter defense was. That will be what cuts his minutes in games. Today, Pitt was short handed and needed him. He maintained his confidence and showed much more willingness to drive to the basket. 10 points on 4-8 shooting. Still needs to take better care of the ball. He had 3 turnovers.
Aaron Gray: After a couple subpar games, Gray bounced back with 9 points on 3-5 shooting. He had 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. More importantly, he provided important energy in the second half when Pitt was struggling to get the ball inside.
Levon Kendall: Only 17 minutes in the game. Mostly in the first half. Lots of hustle, but not much in the stat sheet. He played good defense, but Pitt needed to stay with a smaller faster line-up against ND’s 3 guards. That’s why he didn’t play as much.
Mark McCarroll: Given solid important minutes in the game and clearly responded. Was willing to help clear under the glass. Didn’t try to force his shot (except for the 3-point attempt).
Chris Taft: I don’t know. Led the team with 6 rebounds in only 17 minutes, but showed no effort or energy. I honestly hope it was the flu, because there is no excuse for him to come up playing that small in the big games. He has more talent than any of Pitt’s big guys, but no where near the passion it seems. Pitt needs him to play big for them to go far, but he doesn’t seem to care. It’s easy to say bench him for Gray, but his talent is so needed, and you have to hope he finally snaps out of it. It frustrates the fans, and I can’t imagine what the coaches must be thinking. The team was still playing better with him in the line-up than without. Consider the difference between the 1st half (14 minutes) and 2nd (3 minutes).
John DeGroat: In his 2 minute spurt, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 foul. I would really like to see him at least be given a chance to play 5 straight minutes. He was working hard out there, trying to do the defense first. You need to reward him a little.
Keith Benjamin: Only 3 minutes, all in the first half. Surprised not to see him play at all in the second half.
Coach Jamie Dixon: Nearly let this one get away. Let the team get away from pounding the ball inside. No reason why Troutman and Gray only had 14 attempts combined. Too willing to yo-yo DeGroat and Benjamin in the line-up. If Taft wasn’t ill, you need to find a way to reach him now.
