Krauser's Shooting a Lift to No. 10 Pitt

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Point guard Carl Krauser became Pitt&#39;s on-court leader last season, even while deferring to the three seniors who led the Panthers&#39; 31-5 team. This season, he&#39;s doing a lot more than just directing the offense.<br> <br> Twice in the No. 10 Panthers&#39; last three games, the former New York City high school star has set personal scoring highs. He had 28 points in an 84-71 victory at Penn State on Dec. 11, then became the first Pitt player in four years to score 30 or more points when he had 31 Thursday night in a 69-60 decision over Richmond.<br> <br> Krauser, a 6-foot junior, insists he&#39;s not intentionally looking to pick up his scoring but, rather, is taking open shots when they&#39;re there.<br> <br> &#34;If the opportunity is there, I&#39;m going to take my shot,&#34; Krauser said. <br> <br> By doing so, Krauser has lifted his average to a team-best 16.6 as Pitt has started 9-0 for the third consecutive season. His scoring hasn&#39;t dramatically increased - he averaged 15.4 last season - but he has become a much more reliable 3-point shooter.<br> <br> Last season, the Panthers finished 320th among the nation&#39;s 326 Division I teams in 3-point shooting, a weakness that ultimately led to their downfall in the NCAA round of 16. But they&#39;re shooting much better beyond the arc this season - 42 percent to 30.6 percent a season ago - thanks mostly to Krauser and Antonio Graves, who is 9-of-14.<br> <br> Krauser has made 18 of 39 3-point attempts (46.2 percent), compared to 18 of 51 (35 percent) at this stage a season ago, and is 11-of-19 in his last three games.<br> <br> Pitt&#39;s upgraded outside shooting is discouraging opponents from packing the inside to hold down 6-foot-10 Chris Taft and 6-foot-7 Chevon Troutman, both of whom have had some big games this season.<br> <br> To Richmond coach Jerry Wainwright, that&#39;s mostly to the credit of Krauser. The Spiders often sagged their defense to try to control Taft and Troutman, but that allowed Krauser to make 6-of-8 3-point attempts.<br> <br> &#34;He&#39;s one of the five or six best point guards in the country,&#34; Wainwright said. &#34;It&#39;s difficult for a point guard to play much better than that.&#34;<br> <br> Krauser spent hour upon hour this summer working to improve his shooting after he made only 40.6 percent of his shots last season and just 38.7 percent in Big East play.<br> <br> &#34;We just have to go with what&#39;s working,&#34; Krauser said. &#34;Sometimes, playing down low with Chris and Chevy is going to work. Sometimes I&#39;m going to be on and hitting shots, drawing guys to me - and, when I do that, I can hit guys like Chris and Chevy and Mark (McCarroll). At Pitt, I&#39;ve learned it&#39;s never been one guy scoring 30 points a game. That&#39;s just the history of Pittsburgh basketball.&#34;<br> <br> Krauser is averaging 25.3 over his last three games going into Wednesday night&#39;s game against South Carolina (7-2), though he doesn&#39;t expect to maintain that production once the Big East schedule begins.<br> <br> The Panthers finish up their soft pre-conference schedule Sunday night against Bucknell (7-4) before meeting Georgetown (6-3) on Jan. 5, but Krauser said there&#39;s work to do before then.<br> <br> &#34;We&#39;ve got to play better on defense,&#34; Krauser said, even though Pitt&#39;s opponents are averaging only 54.8 points.

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