PITTSBURGH -- The most painful of point guard Carl Krauser's 77 victories at Pittsburgh was also one of his most satisfying, if only because it proved the Panthers can go beyond their five starters and still win a key game.
Krauser, who sat out a pivotal second-half run after losing two teeth in a fall, hit a runner from the lane with 11 seconds remaining to put No. 18 Pittsburgh ahead to stay following two Notre Dame comebacks and the Panthers went on to a 68-66 victory Saturday.
Krauser wasn't supposed to take the shot. He got open when 6-foot-7 Chevon Troutman created a lane to the basket.
"I was supposed to look inside for Chevy but he was covered and was giving me a great screen," Krauser said. "If I missed it, our guys were underneath to get a tip-in."
Pittsburgh (17-4, 7-3 Big East) led by 13 points in the first half, only to trail by as many as five before going on a 14-1 run without starters Krauser and Chris Taft, who was apparently benched for a lack of production. Troutman's two free throws with 7 minutes remaining put Pitt up 58-50.
Chris Quinn tried to rally the Fighting Irish (14-7, 6-5) in a game important to their NCAA tournament hopes by scoring on three consecutive possessions to briefly put them up 62-61, then hitting his fifth 3-pointer to tie it at 65.
Krauser's basket restored Pitt's lead at 67-65 and freshman backup Ronald Ramon made a free throw with 4.3 seconds remaining after Rick Cornett prevented Notre Dame from tying it again by missing one of two free throws. Krauser led the Panthers with 16 points, but their bench contributed 24 points after scoring only six in the previous two games combined.
Notre Dame's final chance to win or tie ended when Cornett's too-long inbounds pass was intercepted by Levon Kendall, who held onto the ball as time expired.
Quinn was 5-of-6 from 3-point range and scored 25 points, while Chris Thomas added 16. Pitt held Colin Falls to eight points on 2-of-11 shooting. Falls, whose 23 points keyed the Irish's 68-65 upset of previously unbeaten Boston College on Tuesday night, was 1-of-10 on 3-pointers.
Krauser lost the teeth while being knocked to the floor by Jordan Cornette just as the 14-1 run was starting, but a foul was not called.
"I was in pain, but I didn't mind," Krauser said. "My teammates needed me."
The 6-foot-10 Taft, a preseason all-Big East first-teamer, sat out all but 4 minutes of the second half because backup Aaron Gray was more productive. Krauser liked how Taft handled the benching, one that coach Jamie Dixon did not fully explain.
"Chris doesn't have to score every game for us to win," Krauser said. "I told him there will be games when things don't go his way."
Gray contributed nine points, five rebounds and two blocked shots in 15 minutes to Taft's one point, six rebounds and 0-for-3 shooting in 17 minutes. Taft came into the game averaging 14.1 points. Ramon and Troutman each scored 13 points, and Antonio Graves had 10 for Pitt, which won its seventh in nine games.
"They played this game with an edge that maybe they haven't played with for a while," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said of Pitt, which was coming off a tight win over St. John's and a surprise loss at West Virginia.
Notre Dame was trying for its fourth victory over a ranked Big East opponent this season but fell behind 28-15 before making 10 3-pointers in less than 13 minutes to take a 49-44 lead.
Ramon's four-point play - a fallaway 3-pointer from the corner and free throw -- restored Pitt's lead at 51-50. Mark McCarroll followed with a putback of Ramon's miss and Graves added a 3-pointer ahead of the two free throws by Troutman.
"When you think of Pitt you think of their inside game, but they made some long baskets, too," Quinn said.
Notre Dame was 14-of-29 from 3-point range to Pitt's 8-of-21, but the Panthers were 14-of-22 at the foul line to the Irish's 6-of-10.
"We should have been at the foul line more with how tough they played," Thomas said. "Taft was a non-factor but their bigs were beating up on our bigs. We shot the ball extremely well from 3-point, but not having a good enough inside presence hurt us."
