PITTSBURGH - If Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was fearful of a letdown against Providence two days after one of the Panthers' most emotional victories, he wasn't following a morning practice.

As soon as he saw the it's-all-business attitude that team leaders Carl Krauser, Chevon Troutman and Chris Taft had hours before the game, he almost knew it would be a good night.

Taft scored a career-high 25 points and Carl Krauser adeptly ran No. 16 Pittsburgh's fast-breaking offense while playing one of his best defensive games of the season, leading the Panthers to an 86-66 rout of Providence Monday night.

Krauser had 19 points, nine assists and two steals and helped shut out Friars point guard Dwight Brewington for nearly 32 minutes to help the Panthers win their fifth in six games. Brewington, averaging 18.5 points in his last four games, finished with eight points but didn't score until Pitt (15-3, 5-2 Big East) led 66-45.

"Syracuse was an emotional win, but I thought our guys handled it well," Dixon said of the 76-69 comeback victory over the then-No. 4 Orange on Saturday night. "Our focus was good in the shootaround today, and that's a good sign."

So was Taft's elevated level of play, considering that he was held to eight points by Syracuse and to 11 or fewer in Pitt's last three games.

The 6-foot-10 sophomore was much more assertive offensively against a Friars lineup that had no starter taller than 6-9, getting 10 in the first half before dunking several times off Krauser passes as Pitt pulled away throughout the second half.

"I went in with the mind-set that we had to win this game," Taft said. "I was trying to get every rebound and post up strong and aggressively because I knew I would get the ball if I did."

Pittsburgh won its third in a row since its worst slump in four years, a string of three losses in five games. All three losses were significant upsets, to Bucknell, Georgetown and St. John's, with the latter loss coming to a team that doesn't have another Big East victory.

"But they kind of look like their old selves now," Providence coach Tim Welsh said.

Especially Taft, who was expected to be one of the Big East's top players but was averaging only 12 points over his previous five games. He scored more than 20 points for only the third time this season and also had 15 rebounds as Pitt held a 39-24 edge on the boards.

Taft's previous career high was 24 against Providence last season, as Welsh well remembers.

"I said, 'Don't ever say that to me,'" Welsh said when told before the game that Taft was slumping. "That guy's a monster. ... Pitt is a load to handle and they really crushed us on the boards."

Ryan Gomes scored 24 points, but the Friars (9-11, 0-7) lost their seventh in a row and 10th straight in the Big East dating to last season. Troutman added 14 points and seven rebounds for Pitt.

Pitt opened a 5-0 lead and never trailed, pulling out to a 32-22 lead with 4:40 left in the first half by outscoring the Friars 10-3 during a 2½-minute stretch. Taft scored twice from in close, once on an excellent pass by Krauser, and Ronald Ramon made four free throws.

Pitt was the Big East's worst foul-shooting team going into its 76-69 win over then-No. 4 Syracuse on Saturday night, but was 21-of-27 from the foul line that night and was 21-of-24 Monday.

"We started doing a different drill in practice where everybody lines up on the baseline and one guy shoots (free throws), so there's a lot of pressure," Krauser said. "That type of discipline makes you think about making free throws."

Providence, now 3-13 at Pittsburgh, had lost five in a row by five points or fewer, but never got closer than eight points in the second half.