PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Pittsburgh’s stay in the Top 25 isn’t going to last long.

The 24th-ranked Panthers ensured a quick exit from the rankings on Saturday when they parlayed a miserable first half into a second straight loss this week, dropping a 67-62 decision to Rutgers, which got 23 points from a punished Eli Carter off the bench.

“We obviously dug a hole for ourselves that we couldn’t recover,” Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said. “It was fun in the second half, we played harder, we played better. We made some adjustments that helped and had plenty of opportunities. It’s hard to come back from a 15-point deficit (actually 14) but we got it down there pretty quick and had an opportunity to get a stop and get rebound and make a layup and (didn’t.) I guess when you put yourself in a hole there is little margin for error.”

This marks the second straight season the Panthers (12-3, 0-2 Big East) have gotten off to a poor start in the conference. They lost their first seven league games last season in missing the NCAA tournament for the first time under Dixon. After losing to No. 14 Cincinnati on Monday, they now face the prospect of an 0-3 start with a game at No. 15 Georgetown on Tuesday.

“It’s early in the season,” said J.J. Moore, who came off the bench to lead Pittsburgh with 14 points. “We’re just going to keep attacking and keep going and rolling along. We’re going to think about our next game, Georgetown, and .try to basically figure out our flaws and just get going.”

Pittsburgh trailed by 14 points at halftime, managed to claw within two points twice in the final 5 minutes, but came up short when their two major weaknesses surfaced — a reliance on their outside shooting and poor rebounding.

Carter, who did not start for the Scarlet Knights (10-3, 1-1) because of a minor violation of team rules, was the difference in giving coach Mike Rice his first win since returning from a three-game school-imposed suspension for inappropriate behavior earlier this week. He hit 6 of 14 from the field and nine free throws. His last basket came on a shot in the lane after a dunk by Steven Adams with 3:24 to play got Pittsburgh within 55-53 with 3:24 to go.

“It feels good to get this win,” Carter said.