Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin, Pitt's freshman guard duo, are known as "The Young Guns" among their teammates. The nickname was bestowed upon them by team manager Tariq Jamal-Francis partly because they resemble a teenage rap group of the same name and partly because they played so well together during a preseason scrimmage.

Starting tomorrow, "The Young Guns" could take center stage for the Panthers when the Richmond Spiders visit the Petersen Events Center for a non-conference game.

Starting guard Antonio Graves is day-to-day after his ankle was sprained Saturday against Coppin State. If Graves is unable to play, Ramon and Benjamin will be forced into playing more than they normally do.

"It could be a lot of different guys," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "Obviously, there's a lot of minutes to come up with. It could be Benjamin, it could be Ronald. It all depends on the matchups, the situations. So many things come into play."

Ramon appears to have the edge in replacing Graves in the starting lineup. He started the first three games of the season when Graves was slowed by an ankle sprain. He averaged 10 points per game in those three games. In the past five games, he has averaged four points per game as a reserve.

"I'm just going to go out there do what I've been doing and help the team," Ramon said. "I've done OK. I know I can do better. I just have to keep working at it. The competition level in practice has been good, so I think I'm prepared now."

Benjamin has played in six of the first eight games and is averaging 7.7 minutes per game, but Dixon continues to speak highly of his performances in practices. Benjamin indicated yesterday that he will be a part of the rotation against Richmond.

"I should see a lot more minutes due to the injury," he said. "I felt like I was going get a lot more minutes anyway, being that I was starting to step out of that freshman shell. Now with the injury, it forces me to play.

"I know I'm going to get into the game now. It's not a mystery of whether I'm going to play or not. I'm comfortable and I'm ready. There's no easy way to ease yourself into a situation. The easiest thing is to throw me into a fire in a good game, so they'll know come conference time whether I'll be ready or not."

Dixon's club was in a similar situation around this time last season. Starting point guard Carl Krauser missed four games with a groin injury and Graves had to step into a starting role. Graves responded with two double-digit scoring games and kept the Panthers undefeated in Krauser's absence, including big wins against Georgia and the Big East Conference opener against Virginia Tech.

Now it's Ramon and Benjamin's turn to show what they can do against some tough competition. Richmond, an NCAA tournament team last season, is 4-3, but the Spiders beat Seton Hall and lost to Virginia and Wake Forest.

"When you lose a guy like Antonio who has improved so much, it's kind of hard," Krauser said. "But when you got guys like Ronald and Keith who are always working hard in practice and working on their game, it's like you're gaining because you have team members who can help when someone else is down.

"Those guys are anxious to play. It gives different guys opportunity to go out there and get used to game situations. There's a big difference between practice and game situations. As long as those guys get an opportunity to go out there and show coach they can play out there when the lights go on, it's always good."

NOTES -- The Los Angeles Times floated Dixon's name as a possible candidate for the coaching vacancy at Southern California yesterday. Former college and NBA coach Tim Floyd is thought to be the front-runner for the job. ... Senior forward Mark McCarroll returned to practice after missing the Coppin State game with a concussion.