Pitt coach Jamie Dixon reacts during first half the Panthers' 71-68 win at Seton Hall Monday.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Pittsburgh got the balanced effort it needed with leading scorer and rebounder Aaron Gray sitting out for the first time this season.

Levance Fields scored 15 points, Levon Kendall had 14 points and eight rebounds and Sam Young added 11 points to help the short-handed and 10th-ranked Panthers hold off Seton Hall 71-68 Monday night.

The 7-foot Gray, who sprained his left ankle in the final minute of a win over Washington on Saturday, was on the bench in warmups with a protective boot on his foot.

"He doesn't play 40 minutes a game," Kendall said. "It's not like we haven't had that look before. Obviously it's a different view out of there the whole game. We were prepared for it. We were able to adjust and make up for his absence."

Kendall, who came in averaging 5.0 points and 25.7 minutes, shot 6-for-8 from the field in 33 minutes.

"I play the 5 whenever he's out of the game," he said. "All year I've been doing that, so it wasn't really a big thing for me. We had to change our focus, we had to rebound really well. We knew we had to do a good job of team rebounding."

Fields scored all his points in the second half, including seven in the final 2Z\x minutes to help the Panthers improve to 6-0 on the road in conference play.

"I don't know if there are any other teams in the country that are 6-0 in conference games on the road," Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said. "It's a great sign of our decision making and recognition of what other teams are trying to do to us.

"(Fields) was key and really hit some big shots. He got some good screens and got some good looks."

Pittsburgh won for the seventh time in eight games overall, including it's second straight since a 66-53 home loss to Louisville on Feb. 12. The victory was the 100th for Dixon (100-26), who reached the milestone faster than any coach in school history.

Eugene Harvey scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half, Jamar Nutter had 19 and Brian Laing added 12 points and eight rebounds for Seton Hall (12-14, 3-10). The Pirates have lost five straight, eight of nine and eight straight conference games.

"I thought our kids came out very ready to win the game, regardless of whether Aaron Gray played or not," Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez said. "We've been playing our best basketball of late, but we came up short. I thought we'd get over the hump tonight."