The Pitt Panthers advanced to the finals of the CBI with a 68-62 overtime win over Butler on Wednesday, and they'll take on Washington State. The Cougars beat Oregon State 72-55 Wednesday night.
The first game of the best-of-three series will take place Monday at 10:00 p.m., with the second game taking place Wednesday at 7:00 and the third, if it's needed, coming next Friday at 7:00. Washington State will host the first game, and Pitt will host the last two.
Even after three CBI wins (the others game against San Francisco and Wyoming), Washington State is just 18-16. That's only slightly worse than the Panthers' 20-16 mark, but Pitt has played against much, much tougher competition. The Cougars' highest-profile wins this year might have been those against Cal and Stanford. For whatever it's worth, Pitt should be the favorite.
The Cougars are led by junior forward Brock Motum, who has averaged 18 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season.
The Panthers' home games in the CBI have been very sparsely attended. They'll have a few more eyes on them in the first game of the series in Pullman, but perhaps not that many more -- the Cougars drew 3,019 fans in their only CBI home game so far, the one against Wyoming.
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