Villanova Wildcats (7-2) vs Pittsburgh Panthers (5-5)
Where: Finneran Pavilion (Villanova, PA)
When: Saturday, Dec. 13 at 4:30 PM
Betting Line: Villanova -9.5 (subject to change)
How to Watch: truTV/HBO Max
How to Listen: Villanova Sports Radio Network
Net Rankings: Villanova 37, Pitt 163
KenPom: Villanova 37, Pitt 108
Torvik: Villanova 47, Pitt 107
About Pitt: The Panthers were selected to finish 14th out of 18 teams in the ACC Preseason Poll, and not much has been done thus far to dissuade that. Pittsburgh has respectable losses to UCF, West Virginia and Texas A&M, as well as a buzzer-beater home win against Ohio State, but they also have bad home losses to Quinnipiac and Hofstra. The Panthers are led by two returnees from last year’s team, forward Cameron Corhen and guard Brandin Cummings, who average 14 points and 13.7 points respectively. Transfers Barry Dunning Jr. and Damarco Minor round out the double-digit scorers for Pitt. Dunning Jr., a senior transfer from South Alabama, averages 11.4 points per game on 47% from the field. Minor, a 6’ transfer from Oregon State, averages 11.2 points per game and leads the team with 3 assists per game.
Notes on Nova: The Wildcats are coming off of their first loss since opening night against BYU. The game against Michigan was a reality check for Villanova, one I’m sure that Kevin Willard used for endless amounts of teaching material in the recent days. At the same time, not much went right in that game, so hopefully the ‘Cats can have short-term memory against their former rival. One thing of note is that it appears as if Zion Stanford has lost a spot in the main rotation, as he is only playing an average of 4.5 minutes over the last two games. Meanwhile, Chris Jeffery and Malachi Palmer have played double-digit minutes in both games.
