PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Providence coach Tim Welsh hasn't seen a defense like Pittsburgh's before. He knows someone who might have, though.

"You've got to ask (Bill) Belichick," Welsh said of the New England Patriots coach. "It's probably like playing against the Steeler defense."

Freshman Chris Taft scored 24 points, Chevon Troutman had 23 and Carl Krauser added 22 Tuesday night as sixth-ranked Pitt beat No. 12 Providence 88-61 to move into a tie for first place in the Big East.

Pittsburgh (26-3, 12-3) is tied with No. 7 Connecticut with one game remaining for each. The Panthers are home for Villanova Saturday, while the Huskies are at No. 24 Syracuse Sunday. Both have clinched byes into the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.

"The Big East championship was the least of my worries," Krauser said. "If we come out and play the way we did, it will take care of itself."

Rob Sanders had 16 points for the Friars (20-6, 11-4), who already clinched a bye into the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament but were looking for their first conference title.

"We're still playing for a lot in this league," Welsh said. "We don't want to drop two in a row going into New York, that's for sure."

Just two days after a 49-46 overtime loss to Syracuse that snapped their 40-game home winning streak, Pitt broke out on offense while still playing the defense it's known for. The Panthers shot 59.2 percent (29-for-49), falling two points shy of their highest scoring game of the season.

"I can't say enough about how our guys responded and stepped up," first-year coach Jamie Dixon said. "Obviously we played a very good game against a very good team and executed everything we had to."

And that includes their defense. Entering the game first in the conference and fifth in the country with an average of 57 points allowed, the Panthers held Providence to 35.8 percent shooting (19-for-53) overall and just 4-for-19 from 3-point range. Pitt also outrebounded the Friars 31-22 and held them well below their 72.8 scoring average.

"We got a little frustrated with their toughness. Certainly Troutman and Taft showed their power," Welsh said. "We may have been in a semi-shock that we were getting beat up a little bit. We were back on our heels and I didn't like that."

Taft dominated inside, while Troutman scored again and again by beating the Friars down court on long passes as the Panthers pulled away steadily from a 33-27 halftime lead. Taft scored six points in an 8-2 run that made it 58-43 with 9:26 to play and the sellout crowd of 12,993 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center was quieted.

Krauser said the long passes over the top were a reward for his big men.

"I just saw my big men run down the court beating them down and wanted to make sure I found them for layups," he said.

Ryan Gomes, who entered averaging 19.6 points, had to sit out for eight minutes in the first half when he picked up his second foul. He finished 4-for-11 from the field and had three rebounds. Providence point guard Donnie McGrath didn't score and had just two assists in 33 minutes.

"You just have to give them credit, they just did a good job against us," Gomes said. "We knew a lot was riding on this game and we tried to take it as just another game. We probably put too much pressure on ourselves and we were trying to do too much as a team.

"They played great defense on me. The fouls I got, I reached in. They were silly fouls on my part."

This was the first matchup of teams ranked this high in Providence since No. 12 Providence beat No. 14 Holy Cross 90-64 on Jan. 18, 1978. The Friars dropped to 3-2 against ranked teams this year; the previous loss was in overtime to Texas.