Krauser Steps Up for Pittsburgh

Carl Krauser is turning what traditionally is Pittsburgh’s most glaring weakness into one of its greatest strengths.

Krauser’s outside shooting and career-high 31 points helped the 10th-ranked Panthers hold off Richmond, 69-60, on Thursday night at Pittsburgh in the first game involving the schools in 66 years.

With shooting guard Antonio Graves out because of a sprained ankle, Krauser -- Pitt’s point guard -- was more aggressive than usual in looking for the outside shot and scored 18 points in the second half.

“You realize as a point guard that sometimes you’ve got to take over a game, and that’s what I intended to do,” Krauser said. “I wanted to give a big lift to my team.”

Chris Taft had 11 points and freshman Ronald Ramon, who started for Graves, had 10 to help the Panthers to a 9-0 start for the third consecutive season and the second in as many seasons under Coach Jamie Dixon.

Pitt has yet to play a top 25 opponent and isn’t scheduled to meet one until facing No. 11 Connecticut on Jan. 22. The Panthers are 42-1 at home since the Petersen Events Center opened two years ago and have won 24 consecutive nonconference games.

Krauser became the first Pitt player to score more than 30 points at the Petersen Center and matched the arena record of 31 by Notre Dame’s Matt Carroll in January 2003.

Richmond fell to 4-4.

No. 20 George Washington 81, Florida International 71 -- T.J. Thompson made six three-pointers and scored 25 points to lead the Colonials (8-1) over the Golden Panthers (5-5) at Miami for their eight consecutive victory.

Ivan Almonte had 22 points and 13 rebounds for Florida International, which dropped to 0-13 all-time against ranked teams.

George Washington took control of the game early in the second half with a 10-1 run. Thompson’s layup less than three minutes into the half gave George Washington a 44-35 lead.

No. 24 Maryland 82, American 61 -- John Gilchrist scored 20 points and fueled a second-half run that carried the Terrapins (7-2) over the Eagles (5-3) at College Park, Md.

Nik Caner-Medley had 16 points and Travis Garrison had 14 for Maryland, which led by two points before Gilchrist tossed an alley-oop pass to freshman James Gist, starting a 16-0 run that made it 66-48 with 6:19 left.

Gilchrist and Ekene Ibekwe each scored four points during the spree, which propelled Maryland to its third straight victory. It was the fourth straight game that Gilchrist scored at least 20 points.

Stanford 84, Montana 66 -- Dan Grunfeld scored 18 points to help the Cardinal (6-4) defeat the Grizzlies (4-7) for its 18th consecutive home victory.

Tim Morris and Matt Haryasz each scored 11 for Stanford, which has won four in a row. The Cardinal has won 27 of its last 28 home games. The current streak is the longest active among Pacific 10 Conference schools.

Stanford also made a season-high eight three-pointers.