By Michael Sanserino

For The Star-Ledger

PITTSBURGH — This time, Rutgers didn't get complacent after beating a Top 10 opponent.

Four days after knocking off No. 8 Connecticut, the Scarlet Knights looked equally impressive in a 62-39 victory against Pittsburgh tonight at the Petersen Events Center.

It was the first road win of the season for Rutgers, which played sloppily in a loss at South Florida three days after beating No. 10 Florida at the RAC earlier this season.

Rutgers coach Mike Rice said his team had “two bad practices” between the Connecticut win and yesterday. But, he said, the bad practices didn’t carry over.

“I thought it was as good a 40-minute performance as we’ve played all year,” he said. “We’re getting better. Our young team is starting to figure out how to win basketball games.”

The 23-point margin of victory was the largest for the Knights ever in a Big East road game.

Rutgers (10-7 overall, 2-2 Big East) put forward its best defensive effort of the season against a slumping Pitt team, holding the Panthers (11-6, 0-4) to 21.1 percent shooting and forcing 15 turnovers.

It was the Knights’ second win at Pitt in their past three tries. The Panthers have now lost five straight games — the longest losing streak under coach Jamie Dixon.

Freshman guard Eli Carter led Rutgers with 14 points and junior guard/forward Dane Miller added 11. The Knights shot 40 percent. But it was what Rutgers did on defense that won the game.

“We kind of could tell during warmups that we were locked in and really focused,” Miller said. “And in the first four minutes, we saw we were hustling the whole time.”

The Knights’ defensive formula — in which they switch defenders on every screen — confounded Pitt throughout the night.

“They knew a lot of our plays. They switch off on screens,” Pitt guard Ashton Gibbs said. “They did a good job scouting us.”

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Rice, who was an assistant coach at Pitt under Dixon, said the Knights run half of the same offensive sets as Pitt and knew how to effectively limit the Panthers' offense. Rutgers struggled with its defensive switches for the first month of the season, Rice said.

"It's becoming second nature to me," Carter said. "We go over it every day in practice."

Gibbs, Pitt’s leading scorer, was held to eight points and was 2 of 11 from the field. He was 0 for 4 in the first half. Rice said the Knights used the same strategy against Gibbs as they used against Connecticut star Jeremy Lamb.

The Knights had a 51-35 rebounding advantage — including a 19-16 advantage on the offensive glass. The Panthers entered the game leading the NCAA in rebounding margin, averaging 13.3 more rebounds per game than their opponents.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Rice, who was born in Pittsburgh, coached as an assistant at Pitt under Dixon and got his head coaching start at Robert Morris University, about 30 miles away from here.

“For your first road victory — to have it in front of the Oakland Zoo and at the Pete — I know how big a thing it is,” Rice said. “I’m not sure if these guys truly do because they’re so young. But maybe that’s why they played so hard here and didn’t have a fear of it.”