LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Levance Fields' words haven't changed in the last month, only the number of people listening to them.

"We know we can compete for a Big East title and a national championship," Fields said following the 12th-ranked Panthers' 61-57 win over No. 10 Louisville on Sunday at Freedom Hall. "We have confidence in each other, we've had it all along."

Of the three unbeaten teams remaining in Division I, the Panthers (14-0) are certainly the most surprising. They weren't even ranked three weeks ago, now they're being mentioned in the same breath at No. 1 Duke (16-0) and No. 2 Florida (16-0).

The Panthers haven't been as dominant as the Blue Devils or as flashy as the Gators. Their win over the Cardinals was much like the 13 that came before — tough, physical and the collective work of one of the deepest teams in the nation.

Nine Pittsburgh players saw at least 11 minutes of action, and with leading scorer Carl Krauser battling foul trouble and poor shooting, there were plenty of volunteers to fill the void.

Fields scored 13 points off the bench, as Pittsburgh's reserves accounted for 30 of its 61 points.

"We just keep playing," Fields said. "We know how good we are and how good we can be. We have so many different players that can step in, we know somebody is going to step up."

In the final 10 minutes against the Cardinals, if Fields wasn't hitting a big shot then center Aaron Gray was grabbing clutch rebounds.

"We stay together," said Krauser, limited to eight points on 3-of-10 shooting. "We really enjoy crunch time in games."

The Panthers were picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the crowded 16-team Big East. Now they head to Rutgers on Wednesday with a chance to win their first 15 games for only the fourth time in school history.

And while the Gators — who faced similar questions at the beginning of the season — have zoomed up the rankings, the critics have been slower to embrace the Panthers, not that they have a problem with it.

"Maybe we're under the radar," Gray said. "But teams give us respect and we know how tough it is to win in the Big East."

Now so do the Cardinals. Louisville is 13-3 overall, but just 1-2 so far in their first season in the Big East after coming over from Conference-USA.

With seven new faces on a team that went to the Final Four a year ago, Louisville coach Rick Pitino expected growing pains.

"There is no substitute for experience," Pitino said. "Young teams don't win against good teams."

Louisville is now 0-3 against Top 25 opponents this season, though the Cardinals were much more competitive against the Panthers than they were in earlier losses to Villanova and Kentucky.

Louisville had a chance to win in the final seconds even though senior guard Taquan Dean played just 12 minutes thanks to a sprained ankle. Freshman Terrence Williams had a career-high 25 points, becoming the go-to guy in Dean's absence.

"We're a banged up team, a young team," Pitino said. "Our backs are to the wall a little bit in this league."

NEW YORK — Corey McCrae was 6-for-7 from 3-point range and scored 20 points to lead Fordham to a 90-63 victory over Duquesne on Sunday, the Dukes' eighth consecutive loss.Bryant Dunston added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Rams (7-9, 2-1 Atlantic-10), who led 57-31 at halftime. Sebastien Greene had 12 points and freshman Chris Bethel added 11 on 5-for-5 shooting.Chauncey Duke was 7-for-10 from the field and had 21 points for the Dukes (2-13, 0-4), while Brian Kelly had 10.Dunston had seven points as Fordham took a 15-5 lead in the opening 4:19. Bryant McAllister's jumper brought the Dukes within 24-14, but the Rams went on a 19-5 run to break the game open and take a 43-19 lead with 5 minutes left in the half. McCrae connected on three 3-pointers in the spurt.Nick Vita's jumper closed Fordham's 9-2 run to open the second half and gave the Rams a 63-33 lead with 15:33 to play.