PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh forward Chevon Troutman didn't get discouraged after an ineffective first half against South Carolina followed two consecutive below-average games. A recent pep talk from a coach who knows him very well helped prevent that.
Only it didn't come from Panthers coach Jamie Dixon.
Troutman's 20 points included the go-ahead basket with 2:37 remaining after No. 10 Pittsburgh blew a nine-point lead, then rallied to beat stubborn South Carolina 72-68 on Wednesday night.
Troutman and freshman Ronald Ramon each scored five points in a 10-0 run midway through the second half that gave Pitt a 53-48 lead, but the Gamecocks (7-3) later tied it at 59 with a 10-1 run.
Pitt (10-0), in danger of its first non-conference home loss in five years, retook the lead on Troutman's layup and never trailed again. Chris Taft scored the next five Pitt points on a dunk, a putback following three missed shots and a free throw to make it 66-60, and Carl Krauser's six free throws in the final minute secured it.
Krauser's final two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining followed two by Tre Kelley that briefly made it 70-68.
Troutman was held to 12 points combined in Pitt's previous two games after averaging nearly 17 in five games before that. He had only two points in the first half, then responded to a high school coach's pep talk by making nine of 10 shots during an 18-point second half.
"My coach from back home, Matt Johnson, called me and talked to me about some things," Troutman said, referring to one of his former coaches at Williamsport (Pa.) Area High. "He felt I was slowing down -- I didn't have great games statistically -- and I needed to buckle down and do what I've always done and draw some contact."
The 6-foot-7, 240-pound Troutman began doing that, with a succession of putbacks and dunks after barely being involved in the offense in the first half. He also had 12 rebounds as Pitt held a 33-25 edge on the boards.
"Troutman is as good as advertised," South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "He throws his big body on you and dares you to stop him, and we didn't have the size to stop him. After scoring 10 points in the paint in the first half, they had 28 in the second half. All the rest is window dressing -- that was the game."
Krauser, coming off a career-high 31 points against Richmond, added 14 points and Taft had 12. Ramon was 3-of-6 on 3-pointers while scoring 11 points off the bench.
"Krauser's a big playmaker, he set the tempo and made the plays he needed to," Odom said.
Carlos Powell and Josh Gonner each scored 15 points for South Carolina, which led by as many as five points in the first half. The Gamecocks' final lead was 45-43 on Gonner's 3-pointer before the 10-0 Pittsburgh run.
"We made some bad decisions against their press in the first half, but we made better decisions and got better shots in the second half," Dixon said. "We made some mistakes and that's what a press does. But we got some layups and hurt them at the other end in the second half."
Pitt was 6-of-14 from 3-point range to the Gamecocks' 2-of-11. South Carolina is one of the nation's worst 3-point shooting teams, making fewer than 30 percent of its shots beyond the arc.
The Panthers, starting 10-0 for the second consecutive season under Dixon, won their 48th in a row at home against non-Big East opponents dating to a 64-60 loss to Virginia Commonwealth on Dec. 23, 1999. Pitt is 45-2 in non-conference games at all sites over the past four seasons.
The Gamecocks were coming off an overtime victory over South Carolina State, but nearly upset No. 2 Kansas on Dec. 18 before losing 64-60. Dixon emphasized that near-miss to his players in practice following the Panthers' 69-60 win over Richmond on Thursday.
Pittsburgh is 43-1 at home since opening the Petersen Events Center two years ago, losing only to Syracuse last season. The Panthers had been 0-5 against South Carolina, although the schools hadn't played since 1976.
