Pilchard
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Tomorrow night, the 12th place Pitt Panthers travel to W-S to take-on the dead f-ing last Deacs in a game that the ACC wishes could be canceled. Here is the breakdown of WF's opponent:
Record: 12-10 (2-7) Pitt (#73) enters tomorrow's game on 5 game losing streak. None of those losses was closer than 9 as the ACC schedule has started to grind-down a young team. The Panthers' two conference wins came at home over L'ville in OT and FSU. Pitt is 0-6 on the road this year, but at #173, WF is by far the worst team that the Panthers have played on the road this season.
Offense: Pitt is a poor offense team. In ACC games, only GT and WF have been worse on offense. In conference games, Pitt has struggled shooting the ball as they are 14th in effective FG% (44%), 13th in TO% (20% of offensive possessions result in TOs), 13th in 2 PT FG% and 12th in FT%. Pitt does try to play fast as they are #4 in the conference in tempo.
Defense: Mediocre. In ACC games, Pitt is #11 on defense. In conference games, they have fouled a lot (13th in FT rate defense), and they have been killed on the offensive boards (last in offensive rebounding %). Pitt has also struggled at defending the paint (#10 in 2 PT FG%).
Lineup: The lack of experience excuse doesn't work for WF against Pitt. The Panthers start PG 6-3 Fr. Xavier Johnson, SG 6-3 Fr. Trey McGowens, SF 6-5 Sr. Jared Wilson-Frame, PF 6-6 Jr. Malik Ellison (St. John's transfer) and C 6-10 So. Terrell Brown (Brown is not a threat from behind the arc). Pitt often goes very small when Brown is on the bench as their 6th and 7th men are 6-3 Sidy N'Dir (N. Mex. State transfer) and 6-6 Frosh Au'Diese Toney. The Panthers best player and leading scorer is the freshman PG Xavier Johnson; he has scored in double figures in all but two of their ACC games, including 30 at Clemson (which is remarkable since WF's starting guards shot a combined 0-16 (not a misprint) against Clemson yesterday. Wilson-Frame and Johnson are Pitt's key threats from behind the 3 point line.
Bottom Line: Since beating NC State on January 15,WF has mailed it in, losing its games by 16, 23, 28 (at home) and 27. In the one other loss since beating the Pack, WF managed to blow a 7 point lead in the last 5 minutes against a bad team (BC). Realize Pitt is young, reeling and lacking in confidence, but there is virtually no scenario where a WF win is imaginable as WF either gets blown out early or crumbles late. KP projects a 5 point win for the Panthers, which is truly remarkable, given WF is at home, Pitt has lost 5 straight, and they return very little from last year's 0-19 in the ACC Pitt team (KP #227) that was one of the conference's all-time worst teams. Someone has to win, and it will likely be Pitt, for their first ACC road win in two years (16 straight road losses) since a February 8, 2017 win at BC.
Fun times.
Record: 12-10 (2-7) Pitt (#73) enters tomorrow's game on 5 game losing streak. None of those losses was closer than 9 as the ACC schedule has started to grind-down a young team. The Panthers' two conference wins came at home over L'ville in OT and FSU. Pitt is 0-6 on the road this year, but at #173, WF is by far the worst team that the Panthers have played on the road this season.
Offense: Pitt is a poor offense team. In ACC games, only GT and WF have been worse on offense. In conference games, Pitt has struggled shooting the ball as they are 14th in effective FG% (44%), 13th in TO% (20% of offensive possessions result in TOs), 13th in 2 PT FG% and 12th in FT%. Pitt does try to play fast as they are #4 in the conference in tempo.
Defense: Mediocre. In ACC games, Pitt is #11 on defense. In conference games, they have fouled a lot (13th in FT rate defense), and they have been killed on the offensive boards (last in offensive rebounding %). Pitt has also struggled at defending the paint (#10 in 2 PT FG%).
Lineup: The lack of experience excuse doesn't work for WF against Pitt. The Panthers start PG 6-3 Fr. Xavier Johnson, SG 6-3 Fr. Trey McGowens, SF 6-5 Sr. Jared Wilson-Frame, PF 6-6 Jr. Malik Ellison (St. John's transfer) and C 6-10 So. Terrell Brown (Brown is not a threat from behind the arc). Pitt often goes very small when Brown is on the bench as their 6th and 7th men are 6-3 Sidy N'Dir (N. Mex. State transfer) and 6-6 Frosh Au'Diese Toney. The Panthers best player and leading scorer is the freshman PG Xavier Johnson; he has scored in double figures in all but two of their ACC games, including 30 at Clemson (which is remarkable since WF's starting guards shot a combined 0-16 (not a misprint) against Clemson yesterday. Wilson-Frame and Johnson are Pitt's key threats from behind the 3 point line.
Bottom Line: Since beating NC State on January 15,WF has mailed it in, losing its games by 16, 23, 28 (at home) and 27. In the one other loss since beating the Pack, WF managed to blow a 7 point lead in the last 5 minutes against a bad team (BC). Realize Pitt is young, reeling and lacking in confidence, but there is virtually no scenario where a WF win is imaginable as WF either gets blown out early or crumbles late. KP projects a 5 point win for the Panthers, which is truly remarkable, given WF is at home, Pitt has lost 5 straight, and they return very little from last year's 0-19 in the ACC Pitt team (KP #227) that was one of the conference's all-time worst teams. Someone has to win, and it will likely be Pitt, for their first ACC road win in two years (16 straight road losses) since a February 8, 2017 win at BC.
Fun times.
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