Coppin State coach Fang Mitchell made it a point to stop Pitt senior forward Chevon Troutman, who came into the game leading the Panthers in points and rebounds. And the Eagles did a good job of executing Mitchell's game plan, limiting Troutman to a season-low four points and just one rebound.

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Pitt's Antonio Graves grabs a rebound from Coppin State's Darryl Proctor, left, in teh first half last night a Petersen Events Center. Graves left with an ankle sprain at the end of the first half. Click photo for larger image.

If Pitt had a one-man team, Coppin State might have been in the game. As it turned out, the Panthers simply turned to Troutman's frontcourt mate Chris Taft, and the super sophomore delivered one of his better efforts of the season.

Taft scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, and point guard Carl Krauser added 17 points to lead Pitt to an easy 73-42 victory before 8,734 at the Petersen Events Center.

That was the good news.

The bad news was that starting guard Antonio Graves re-injured his troublesome left ankle and could be out for a while. Graves turned the ankle with about 10 seconds remaining in the first half and had to be helped off the floor. It is the same ankle Graves injured in the preseason that forced him to miss the opener against Howard. Graves left the Petersen Events Center on crutches.

Coach Jamie Dixon said he would know more about the injury today or tomorrow after the swelling has a chance to go down.

Pitt already was without reserve forward Mark McCarroll, who did not dress because of a concussion he received in last week's game against Penn State. That left Dixon without his usual rotation and forced him to try a number of different combinations throughout the second half.

So without two of their top seven players and with Troutman getting double- and triple-teamed, Taft was often guarded by one person underneath. He capitalized, going 5 for 9 from the field and converting 8 of 11 free throws. Five of his 11 rebounds were offensive boards.

"I just told myself before the game that I was going to be way more aggressive and hit the boards more," Taft said. "In games like this where Chevy isn't himself, that's what I'm going to do."

Pitt dominated the game from the start. The Panthers made 13 of their first 23 shots from the field and led, 36-16, at halftime. The big lead throughout gave Dixon the freedom to experiment in the second half.

Freshman Ronald Ramon started the second half in place of Graves and played 21 minutes. Freshman Keith Benjamin played for the first time in two games and saw 13 minutes of action. Dixon felt comfortable enough with Ramon and Benjamin that they were on the floor at the same time without Krauser for a few minutes in the second half.

"In some ways it was a good thing for us," Dixon said. "But there's always concern, too. We have three freshmen and two sophomores who didn't play many minutes last season. It's not often that you have that many inexperienced players on the floor. I like to keep Carl or Yuri [Demetris] in there with them for a calming effect. Having five new guys out there isn't something you want to do that often."

Pitt outscored Coppin State, 30-8, in the lane and scored 24 points off 15 Eagles turnovers. The Panthers outrebounded the Eagles, 38-30, and held them to 30.6 percent shooting.

"I told our team we had to do some basic things if we were going to hang in there with this team," Mitchell said. "No. 1 we had to rebound. No. 2 we had to prevent turnovers. And No. 3 we had to set the tempo. We didn't do any of that. They pounded us on the glass. They scored more points in the paint on us than any team had all year."

Coppin State (2-7) lost to a ranked team for the third time this young season. The Eagles also lost to Kentucky and Texas. Mitchell said the Panthers are as good as any of the previous teams his team has played.

"They're a different type of team," Mitchell said. "The other teams we played had great perimeter games. This team pounds you on the glass. That's where they killed us. Pittsburgh is right there with the teams we played. They're one of the better teams in the country."

NOTES -- Taft had his eighth career double-double and his second of the season. He also had one against Memphis. ... It was Pitt's third 30-point victory of the season. ... Pitt has won 23 consecutive non-conference games and 46 consecutive regular-season non-conference games at home. ... The Panthers have won seven consecutive games at the Petersen Events Center.