PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh overcame another ineffective game by star Aaron Gray, turning to a smaller unit to open an 11-point lead over USF in the first half and the No. 10 Panthers were never pushed after that in a 69-48 victory Sunday.

Junior center Kentrell Gransberry led the Bulls with 14 points and also grabbed nine rebounds.  Sophomore Jesus Verdejo had 12 points and senior Melvin Buckley added 10 points in the second-straight loss to a nationally ranked opponent.

The 7-foot Gray, the Big East preseason player of the year, scored in single digits for the fourth game in a row -- he had seven points on 2-for-7 shooting in only 20 minutes. Also, 6-10 power forward Levon Kendall was held to five points by the smaller Bulls.Pitt led 16-15 before going on a 10-0 run late in the first half with both Gray and Kendall on the bench. Antonio Graves hit a 3-pointer and scored on a driving layup and backup guard

Ronald Ramon followed with a 3-pointer to make it 26-15.

The Panthers, playing the Bulls (9-7, 0-2) for the first time in the Big East, then limited USF to four points in the first 8? minutes of the second half while opening a 42-26 lead. During that stretch, Sam Young made three free throws during an 8-0 run.

Pitt came into the game shooting 39 percent from 3-point range, only to make 10-of-16 (63 percent) with Levance Fields going 3-of-4 and Ramon 3-of-5. Fields was Pitt's only double-figure scorer with 11 points, but the balanced Panthers had seven players with seven or more points.