NEWARK, N.J. -- The uniforms were different colors and the faces were unfamiliar, but the Pitt Panthers swore it was like looking in the mirror last night when they played Washington State in the championship game of the Legends Classic.

Washington State wins games in the same manner as Pitt. The Cougars play tough, in-your-face defense, limit transition points and make their opponents earn everything they get. In a game that more resembled a February Big East clash than a November non-conference game, the No. 4 Panthers out-toughed Washington State, 57-43, at the Prudential Center and will return home from this holiday tournament with a 7-0 record.

"It was a grind-it-out type of game," Pitt senior Sam Young said. "In a game like this, the scrappiest guys are going to win."

This game was not for the faint of heart or for those who prefer basketball as an art form. This was a down and dirty, no-frills contest that both teams were quite comfortable competing in.

The lack of style points did not dampen Pitt coach Jamie Dixon's mood afterward. He expected a low-scoring affair with the lots of bumping and grinding.

"When you have two very good defensive teams, you're not going to look smooth," Dixon said.

After another uninspiring start -- the second in as many games here for Pitt -- the Panthers clamped down on defense and took control. They held Washington State to 24 percent shooting in the second half after the Cougars shot 52 percent in the first half.

"We just played harder in the second half," senior point guard Levance Fields said. "We were contesting shots and not getting lazy on their shooters."

The Panthers, who shot a pedestrian 35 percent from the field, didn't execute well in their half-court sets, but they managed to pull away by crashing the boards for offensive rebounds, by forcing Washington State turnovers and by getting to the foul line.

Pitt had 11 offensive rebounds, forced 15 Washington State miscues and got to the line 23 more times than the Cougars.

"We were attacking very well in the second half," Dixon said. "As the game went on, we shot-faked, got to the rim or shot-faked and dumped it off."

Young, the king of shot fakes, was driving Washington State's defenders batty. He led Pitt once again with a team-high 15 points and used his patented ball fake more than a dozen times.

"He's terrific," Washington State coach Tony Bennett said. "We told our guys to stay down on him. But he has a world-class ball fake. He was a matchup problem for us. He is a special player."

The Panthers would prefer to play more up-tempo this season because they have better athletes and are quicker than most of their opponents. But this team also has enough veteran players who have the old Pitt style ingrained on their brains that they can revert back and play an ugly game when they need it.

"Obviously, we want to play faster," said Fields, who scored 14 points and did not commit a turnover.

"Our first option is to run. But we knew they would be patient and want to grind it out."

The biggest lead of the first half by either team was five points and Pitt led, 26-23, at the intermission. Washington State controlled play early and held a four-point lead after 10 minutes. The Cougars made seven of their first nine shots from the field while the Panthers made just 5 of their first 18.

The Panthers weren't behind by more because they forced the Cougars into 10 first-half turnovers, scoring 11 points from those, and pulled down eight offensive rebounds, scoring five points from those.

Pitt boosted its lead to 37-27 a little more than five minutes into the second half and never allowed the lead to get below six the rest of the way.

NOTES -- Dixon is now 31-0 in games played in November. ... Pitt is 7-0 for the seventh consecutive season. ... Washington State had won 21 consecutive non-conference games dating to last season before last night. ... Washington State is 1-72 against opponents ranked in the top five of The Associated Press poll.