Pittsburgh at Villanova


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The Pittsburgh Panthers are set to take on the Villanova Wildcats Saturday. ESPN’s College GameDay will be heading to the Villanova campus for the first time in the school’s history, and for good reason. Both teams are ranked inside the Top 10 this season. These teams were picked to finish 1-2 in the Big East preseason poll, and for the most part they have lived up to expectations. Taking a look at the odds, we find a line of Villanova -3.5 over Pittsburgh with a total set of 139 points.

Fourth-ranked Pittsburgh (22-2, 10-1) plays at Villanova on Saturday and will host the Wildcats on March 5th. Few players on this team have forgotten the painful loss they suffered to Villanova in the elite eight of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Former Wildcat Scottie Reynolds hit a game-winning layup with 0.5 seconds left to give Villanova a 78-76 victory which sent them on to the Final Four. That loss certainly leaves a sour taste in players mouths. Pitt has not had much success at Villanova, losing six straight at the Pavilion and nine of ten at the Wildcats campus.

The Panthers are poised to make their 10th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and a win this weekend over the Wildcats would give them their best conference start in team history. Pitt currently sits 1 ½ games ahead of Notre Dame for the Big East lead. They have won 12 of their last 13 games overall and picked up a nice road win at No. 25 West Virginia on Monday despite playing without leading score Ashton Gibbs. He will have to sit out Saturday’s clash as well due to a left knee injury. Brad Wanamaker may have to pick up the slack as he goes up against former high school teammate, Maalik Wayns.

Tenth-ranked Villanova (19-5, 7-4) is coming off a loss that would be very hard to get over if they weren’t playing Pitt next. The Wildcats blew a double-digit lead with only a few minutes remaining against Rutgers on Wednesday, losing 77-76. Jonathan Mitchell hit a 3-pointer and was fouled by Corey Fisher with less than one second remaining, and made the free throw as the Scarlet Knights stole a victory. Villanova had plenty of chances to put them away, but untimely turnovers and a barrage of 3-pointers from Rutgers allowed them to get the victory. The Wildcats also have a bad loss to another Big East bottom feeder in Providence on their resume. They would need to sweep the season series with the Panthers to have any chance of winning the conference. Villanova sits three games behind Pitt in the standings.

Projected Score at BetOnline: Villanova 71 – Pittsburgh 68

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