Men’s basketball: Panthers hit the road for matchup against Wichita State

The Panthers hit the road for the first time this season as they leave the friendly confines of… The Panthers hit the road for the first time this season as they leave the friendly confines of the Petersen Events Center to travel to Kansas City, Mo., to face the Wichita State Shockers. Tip-off is set for 7:30 tonight in the semifinals of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.

The young Pitt team will face a tough test, with some players having never played an away game in their college careers.

It’s a big challenge,” sophomore forward Nasir Robinson said. “We’re just going to go out there and just pretend that we’re at home — block everything out, block the crowd out, the fans, the atmosphere — and just pretend like we’re still at the Pete.”

Facing a tough mid-major opponent in Wichita State is another challenge.

The Shockers return three starters from last year’s team that finished 17-17 in the Missouri Valley Conference, which is notorious for knocking off bigger programs.

Guards Toure Murray with 15.5 points per game, David Kyles (11) and forward JT Durley (15) lead Wichita State (2-0).

Pitt, now 3-0, seems to have started figuring things out in its past couple of games after its opener against Wofford.

In Pitt’s latest win against Eastern Kentucky, guard Ashton Gibbs continued his hot shooting, scoring 20 points while Robinson finished with 15 points.

A couple of other bright spots came from freshmen Lamar Patterson and Dante Taylor.

Patterson had his first double-figure scoring game of the season with 10 points, and Taylor pulled down 12 rebounds.

Pitt will need both Taylor and center Gary McGhee to crash the boards tonight, as well. The Shockers have 7-foot Garret Stutz down low.

With a win over Wichita State, the Panthers would play the winner of the No. 3-ranked Texas and Iowa game in the tournament finals tomorrow night. With a loss, Pitt would face the loser of that game.