New York, NY (Sports Network) - Sam Young scored 26 points as No. 13 Pittsburgh cruised past St. John's 81-57 at Madison Square Garden.

Ronald Ramon added 16 points for the Panthers (16-3, 4-2 Big East), who have won four of five. DeJuan Blair finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Pitt, which was coming off a tough 62-59 loss at Cincinnati

"I think it was, for us, a great sign," said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. "We came off a loss and responded in a lot of good ways. Our preparation was good and it carried over today. It was something we have done in the past and I was impressed with our guys. I thought (Anthony) Mason was unbelievable. We were guarding him and he still hit shots. It was just one of those days that we were hitting shots. Our execution was better and we did a good job of moving the ball."

Anthony Mason Jr. scored a career-high 29 points on 12-for-17 shooting for the Red Storm (7-10, 1-5), who have lost four in a row and six of their last seven.

"I believe we came out defensively with intensity, but we had to stick to it like Coach (Norm) Roberts was saying," said Mason. "We were playing the first 20 seconds of the shot clock, but we have to stick with it and play the full 35 seconds. It is something we have to get better at like coach was saying and get back in the gym."

The Red Storm scored the first four points of the second half to pull within 38-31 but Pitt responded with a 9-0 run. Keith Benjamin's jumper gave the Panthers a 47-31 lead with about 14 1/2 minutes remaining.

St John's never got closer than 12 thereafter.

Pitt came out strong early and a Young three-pointer gave the Panthers a 21-10 advantage midway through the first half.

With 3:21 left in the opening half, Brown dunked an alley-oop pass from Benjamin, giving Pitt a 33-20 lead. The Red Storm answered with a 7-0 surge, though, to pull within 33-27 with just under two minutes left in the half. Mason scored the final five points of the run.

They were the last points of the half for St. John's, however, and a Young dunk followed by a Benjamin triple gave the Panthers a 38-27 lead at the break.