KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pitt coach Jamie Dixon spent the early part of the season trying to figure out who's going to do what. He lost four starters from a team that came within a basket of the Final Four, has two key returners who have yet to play and plenty of questions.
Redshirt freshman Travon Woodall might just be the answer — as long as he can take care of the ball.
Woodall had 19 points and Ashton Gibbs added 18, leading Pittsburgh to a gritty 68-55 win over Wichita State in the semifinals of the CBE Classic on Monday night at the Sprint Center.
Highland High School graduate Gary McGhee scored 10 points and tied for the team lead with six rebounds for the Panthers.
Woodall filled up the stat sheet in his fourth career game, finishing with six rebounds, five assists and four steals. He also had six turnovers, though, which Dixon was quick to point out.
"Here you have this great game and get careless at the end of the game and have two or three turnovers," Dixon said. "You don't want to do that. You want to finish games the right way. He played really well. The thing I was most impressed with was his rebounding."
Pitt (4-0) labored through its first away game, making careless mistakes on offense, allowing Wichita State to stick around into the second half. The Panthers tightened up the defense down the stretch and shot 55 percent in the second half to earn a spot in Tuesday's championship game against No. 3 Texas or Iowa.
"We are a very versatile team," said Gibbs, who had four assists. "We like to play defense, and if you give us open shots we're usually going to make them. I think we're going to be successful as long as we keep playing defense."
Wichita State (2-1) stayed close for a while behind a loud pro-Shockers crowd and the shooting of Toure Murry. The sophomore guard had 20 points and J.T. Durley added 15, but the Shockers couldn't overcome a 9-for-24 first half and 24 turnovers overall.
"We were sloppy with the basketball," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "Pitt gets a lot of credit for that. There were times we were 3-on-1 and would throw it at somebody's head real hard or start to dribble up the court and it hits our foot."
Wichita State gave Pitt some problems early with its aggressive man defense and later with full-court pressure, making nearly every possession a grind for the Panthers.
Pitt wore the Shockers down, pulling away behind the shooting and playmaking of Woodall and Gibbs, who combined for 22 points in the second half.
But it's not the first time Pitt has had trouble with a school from the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers are (12-16) against the MVC and lost to Bradley in the second round of the 2006 NCAA tournament in their last game against a school from the conference.
This one was a win, but it didn't come without some moments of exasperation from Jamie Dixon. He stalked the sideline with a quizzical look on his face after numerous offensive breakdowns and offensive bungles, occasionally stomping in disgust.
Dixon's frustration level reached a peak midway through the first half when the Panthers threw an inbound pass from under the basket into the middle of the lane — with no Pitt players in the paint.
"Why? Why? Why?" Dixon shouted as he flailed his arms out and walked Groucho Marx-like in front of Pittsburgh's bench.
Still, it was a win and the Panthers could use every one they get with the schedule about to get a lot tougher, starting Tuesday night.
"I think a lot of guys have confidence in themselves," Dixon said. "I've said that all along. These are guys who didn't play much last year, but they probably thought it was a mistake not playing them. I like guys like that."
Pitt used a late 11-3 run to take a 32-21 halftime lead, only to give up eight quick points to start the second half. The Panthers quickly pushed the lead back, Wichita State answered and the teams continued the yo-yo over the next few minutes before Pittsburgh scored eight straight points to go up 51-40.
Gibbs scored seven straight points a few minutes later to keep Wichita State from getting any closer.
"They made it tough for us to score," Marshall said. "They do so many good things to defend you. They make it very difficult to comeback on when you get back 10 points or so."
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Pitt advances to CBE title game with 68-55 victory
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