Kansas City, Mo. -- Just one year removed from its No. 1 ranking, the Pittsburgh Panthers (4-0) battled several rallies from a resilient Wichita State Shocker (2-1) squad which trailed by only three in the second half before falling to the Panthers, 68-55, at the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in the Sprint Center on Monday night.

Powered by a roaring sea of yellow, Wichita State battled to cut Pittsburgh's lead to three in the second half before a final 25-15 Panther run sealed the Shockers' fate in the first half of the CBE Classic's semifinal doubleheader.

Working to hand the Panthers their first November loss in eight years, the Shockers used solid rebounding and were backed by a strong showing from the Shocker faithful to keep the score tight for much of the game.

WSU out rebounded Pitt 18-13 in the first half and 30-28 on the evening while sophomore guard Toure' Murry led the offense with a season-high 20 points. Junior forward J.T. Durley tied his season-high with 15 points and junior forward Gabe Blair pulled down eight to lead all rebounders.

The Panthers used a 19-point performance from Travon Woodall and an 18-point evening by Ashton Gibbs to keep their unbeaten streak in November alive. After Monday's game the Panthers moved to 35-0 in November games under head coach Jamie Dixon.

The Panthers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before back-to-back layups from Murry and a Durley jumper knotted the score, 6-6, five minutes into the opening half. As they did all evening, the Panthers tried to distance themselves, igniting for a 6-0 run. Again Murry denied their efforts. He nailed another layup and a three to narrow the gap, 14-11. Murry racked up nine points in the first half.

Displaying his ability to shut team's down, Blair blocked two Pitt shots in a row before diving after a loose ball that eventually returned the possession to the Panthers, who failed to score. His layup at the three-minute mark put the Shocks within six, 27-21.

A 5-0 Pitt run highlighted by a Woodall three gave the Panthers their first double-digit lead of the game, 32-21, to carry into halftime.

In the second half, the Shockers came out firing, using five-straight points from Durley to narrow the deficit, 34-26. Murry shrank the Panthers' lead to five when he drained his second three of the game, forcing a timeout from the Pittsburgh bench less than two minutes into the second.

Dixon's timeout did its job as Pitt returned with a 6-0 run to again push its lead to double-digits. Murry did what Murry does, answering with a pull-up three to keep the Panthers within arms length.

Junior guard Graham Hatch took a charge to return the ball to the Shocks with 13 minutes to play. With a fired up Shocker crowd behind them, Blair drew a foul and sunk both free throws to bring his team to its shortest deficit of the half. Durley then powered his way to the basket for a layup to bring WSU within three, 43-40.

Winning the war on the boards, the Shocks continued to give themselves a chance by surrendering just five second-chance points. It was the 24 turnovers, however, that counteracted the effort. Three Shocker turnovers aided Pitt's 8-0 run to stretch the Panther lead to 51-40 with just under nine minutes remaining.

For the next several minutes, the Panthers would have an answer for each Shocker come back attempt. Gibbs caught fire for a three and a long jumper to give his team its biggest advantage of the evening, 60-46 at the four-minute mark. WSU went 8-for-10 from the line in the final three minutes, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Panthers.

Wichita State will take on the loser of the second semifinal game between Iowa and No. 3 Texas on Tuesday. Game time is set for 6:45 CT.

-Wichita State-