PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- When his teammates got him the ball, Aaron Gray didn't miss.
The 7-foot junior scored 22 points on 9-for-9 shooting to lead No. 9 Pittsburgh to an 85-77 victory over Providence on Wednesday night.
"All of the guys made sure to get us big guys involved in the second half and we were able to get a tough win on the road," said Gray, who had nine rebounds.
The Panthers (20-3, 9-3 Big East) have won at least 20 games for a school-record five consecutive seasons and they extended their winning streak against the Friars to five games.
Senior guard Donnie McGrath matched his career high with 28 points for Providence (11-11, 4-7), which had won its last two games. McGrath was 6-for-10 from 3-point range for the Friars, who have eight scholarship players, four of the freshmen.
"The tale of the tape was pretty evident," Providence coach Tim Welsh said. "They wore us out with their inside bodies that they threw at us. The physical presence of Gray and (Levon) Kendall hurt us and their depth really wore us out in the second half."
John DeGroat's 3-pointer four minutes into the second half gave Pittsburgh its first lead of the game, 45-44. The Panthers then went on a 7-0 run with Gray scoring two baskets, one part of a three-point play, and another from Carl Krauser.
Pittsburgh took its largest lead of the game midway through the second half at 62-50 on a basket by Kendall. The Friars cut the deficit to six points on Geoff McDermott's alley-oop dunk on a pass from Sharaud Curry with 5:48 remaining.
Keith Benjamin responded with a 3-pointer with 5:26 left that pushed the Panthers' lead back to nine.
"We gave up 52 points in the second half," Welsh added. "There you have it."
Benjamin added 15 points and Krauser had 12 for Pittsburgh, which snapped a three-game road losing streak.
"We didn't do a good job penetrating their zone in the first half," Benjamin said. "Then Carl did a good job getting Aaron the ball and it opened things up for me and the other guards."
