What a difference a few weeks can make. Virginia, who got revenge on North Carolina in a matter of weeks, will host Pittsburgh in their ACC regular season finale. The Cavaliers knocked off the Tar Heels back on Monday after their infamous loss that included missing their first 17 3-pointers nine days prior to that. The Panthers are currently on a three-game losing streak and lately fell to Georgia Tech on the road. Tipoff is set for 12:00 PM Eastern time and it can be seen on ACC Network syndication, ESPN3, ESPN College Extra, WatchESPN, and the ESPN mobile app (subscription required).
Pittsburgh (15-15, 4-13 ACC)
As crazy as it sounds, the Panthers were actually on the bubble just a few weeks ago with how deep the conference goes. However, they really needed to build off of their upset against Florida State two weeks ago and that hasn't been the case. The latest loss was 61-52 to Georgia Tech, a game where they hit just 37.7 percent of their shots and went 5-for-10 from the free throw line.
The offense has dipped to just 64.2 points on average in the last five games. Senior forward Michael Young (20.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg) has been one of the more reliable players with 16 or more points in the last three games. Jamel Artis (18.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) has been limited to 12 points last time against Georgia Tech and had 11 against Wake Forest.
No. 23 Virginia (20-9, 10-7 ACC)
Let's face it, the Cavaliers' offense is miserable and it's going to take the defense suffocating the opponent for this team to advance. It's a formula that makes them dangerous, and that's rare to say about a team that scores just 66.6 points per game (313th nationally). In their rematch against UNC, 3-point shooting was significantly better as they hit 10-of-24 attempts.
That was the sole difference in a 53-43 final that saw Virginia hit just 32.2 percent of their shots.
Freshman guard Kyle Guy (7.8 ppg) has been on fire from downtown as of late, making 5-of-7 3-pointers in consecutive games for the Cavaliers. Senior guard London Perrantes (12.4 ppg, 3.9 apg) backed him up with three 3-pointers to finish with 13 points.
Virginia won four consecutive against Pittsburgh until the Panthers knocked them off 88-76 in overtime back on January 4th. The Cavaliers are favored by 11.5 points and the O/U is set at 120. They're 16-11 against the spread this season.
