Keith Srakocic / AP

Pittsburgh's Aaron Gray, right, shoots over Connecticut's Jonathan Mandeldove in the first half.

updated 9:30 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2007

PITTSBURGH - No. 6 Pittsburgh pulled away midway through the second half behind Aaron Gray’s strong inside play and Ronald Ramon’s perimeter shooting, wearing down Connecticut in a typically rugged Big East rivalry game for a 63-54 victory Tuesday night.

Gray, helped by an injury that kept UConn’s 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet out for most of the first half, had 22 points and 19 rebounds. Ramon went 4-for-4 from 3-point range while adding 17 points as the Panthers (17-2, 5-0) won their seventh straight. They are the only team still unbeaten in conference play.

Gray missed by a rebound of becoming the first Pitt player with as many as 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Chris McNeal against Boston College in 1992.

UConn (13-4, 2-3) lost for the fourth time in six games mostly because of poor shooting — the Huskies shot 35.6 percent — yet led 33-32 with 12 minutes remaining.

But the Huskies went scoreless for 4½ minutes shortly after that during a 7-0 Pitt run started by Levance Fields’ 3-pointer. Levon Kendall followed with a jumper from the wing, one of only two baskets before he fouled out, and Gray also scored inside.

The Panthers made it 53-40 on Mike Cook’s driving layup with 2:41 remaining, then spent most of the remaining time on the free throw line as UConn fouled early in every Pitt possession to try to get the ball back.

The Big East’s two most successful programs since 2001 — no team is close to them in regular season victories — are known for their intense, physical styles. This one was no different, as was evident when Thabeet caught an elbow from Gray above his eye less than 2 minutes into the game.

Thabeet was assisted to the locker room in obvious pain and didn’t return late in the half. With Thabeet out, Gray took advantage by getting 11 rebounds by halftime.

Thabeet, who had 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks Saturday in a 68-59 win at St. John’s, finished with one point and six rebounds in 21 minutes but never took a shot from the field — evidence of how Gray was in control underneath. Jeff Adrien scored 13 points and Jerome Dyson had 11 for the Huskies.

Still, Pitt had trouble shooting early against UConn’s inexperienced but quick defenders until Ramon got going. The Panthers, shooting only 33 percent in the first half, led 24-22 at halftime only because Ramon hit a 3-pointer with a second left. Pitt was much better in the second half, making 10 of 15 shots to finish 20-of-45 (44.4 percent).

The Panthers shouldn’t have been surprised UConn played them so tough despite a Connecticut roster that is almost entirely freshmen and sophomores. UConn had won six of 10 from Pitt since 2001, when the Panthers returned to being a conference power, and won in Pittsburgh the last time it played there in 2005.

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