CBI 2012: Home-Court Advantage Gives Pittsburgh the Edge over Washington State

The final series of the CBI Tournament has featured a riveting battle between Washington State and Pittsburgh, two outstanding teams looking to cap outstanding seasons with a win in a prestigious tournament.

OK fine, that's stretching things a little. The CBI is not the Big Dance, and we are not talking about clones of the Kentucky Wildcats. The Cougars and Panthers are merely trying to salvage some dignity by winning the CBI.

Let's give the final three-game series of the CBI this much credit: at least the first two games have been close. Washington State topped Pitt by a point in the first game in Pullman, and Pitt had to withstand a comeback attempt by Washington State in the second game in Pittsburgh.

The third and final game will take place in Pittsburgh too, with the opening tip slated for 7 p.m. ET at the Petersen Events Center on Friday.

The Panthers used their home-court advantage to their, um, advantage in Game 2, racing out to a commanding halftime lead despite the absence of star guard Ashton Gibbs. The rest of the team stepped up and accounted for his absence, as the Panthers got key contributions from all over.

It's possible Pitt may have to beat Washington State without Gibbs' help again, as he missed Game 2 with ankle troubles and there's been no word on his status for Friday's game ever since.

If Gibbs can't go, Pitt will have to put the emphasis on limiting Washington State at the defensive end of the floor, as it did in Game 2. The Panthers didn't surrender many easy buckets, and they made the Cougars earn a good portion of their points at the free-throw line.

Of course, it helped that Washington State cooled down considerably from distance. Had the Cougars been as hot from three in Game 2 as they were in Game 1, they would have won the game and we wouldn't be talking about Game 3 right now.

But Game 1 was an anomaly. Washington State was not an elite three-point shooting team in the regular season, and Pitt did a good job on three-point defense despite the fact it played a lot of games against some Big East teams who could sink a lot of threes.

The experience of having gun the gauntlet in the Big East this season will serve Pitt well in this matchup. After having played the likes of Syracuse, Louisville, Georgetown and UConn, a Pac-12 also-ran like Washington State shouldn't be so tough.

That reality in and of itself is enough to make the Panthers favorites in the final game of the series. What makes them a lock is their home-court advantage. Pitt looked like the superior team playing on its homecourt in Game 2 of the series, and that was no fluke.

Pitt will treat the home crowd to a similar treat in Game 3. And remember, the Panthers will have some dignity to salvage.

Prediction: Pitt by 3