Pitt, West Virginia a real Friday night treat
Rivalry Weekend gets off to a big start tonight when the Panthers host the Mountaineers in the hardwood version of the Backyard Brawl. Pitt's Jamie Dixon and West Virginia's Bob Huggins know how crucial this game is for their clubs with the winner taking temporary control of the third wheel behind 'Nova and 'Cuse in the Big East. West Virginia goes for the season-series sweep at 9 p.m. (ET) on ESPN.
All hail the college basketball gods, or at least the college basketball schedule maker, for giving us a big Friday night game. No offense to some of the previous TGIF contests, but it's sure nice to have a big, thick, juicy public game to wager.
The rematch between West Virginia and Pittsburgh has more sidebar stories than Carter has pills. Start with a couple of ranked teams, with the Mountaineers No. 5 in the latest AP rankings that end with the Panthers 25th. RPI ratings have West Va fifth as well, with Pitt at 18.
There is the revenge angle for Pittsburgh after Jamie Dixon's cast looked awful in a 70-51 loss in Morgantown just last week with the line in that game opening with the Mountaineers 8 ½-point favorites before being bet up to 10 at the closing bell.
And then there's the whole Backyard Brawl rivalry thing between the two schools who, oh, by the way, are basically locked in a battle for third in the Big East right now along with Georgetown and Louisville. It all adds up to a very crucial contest in a time slot that hasn't been filled by big-time college matchups in recent weeks.
There's no betting angle or stats like the most recent meeting between two clubs in sports, especially when that meeting took place just nine 24-hour periods ago by the time Friday's tip-off arrives at 9 p.m. (ET) at Petersen Events Center on ESPN. There's no reason to expect WVU to skate to another 19-point victory, but at the same time there's no reason to think it won't be repeated.
Pitt couldn't buy a bucket at times in that game, shooting just over 30 percent from the field overall (16-of-53) and barely 60 percent from the line. Missed free throws also troubled the team in a January home loss to Georgetown, but the Panthers have shot much better from all points on the court when they're home.
Two key players for were also all but absent for the Panthers in the loss at WVU Coliseum on Feb. 3. In fact, Dixon would've been better off not having Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown available for the action. The second- and third-leading scorers on the team respectively, Wanamaker and Brown combined to log 48 minutes and six fouls while each went 0-of-4 from the field.
It's not like West Virginia was hands down the better team in the game, though they are indeed the better team on this season. The Mountaineers did dominate the glass, 42-30 overall, and they were able to run their offense. West Va also canned a little above its season average from behind the arc, netting about 43 percent of the three pointers they took (9-of-21).
The series has split 5-5 against the spread following last Wednesday's cover by the Mountaineers. Pitt leads the straight up ledger at 6-4 in that span. The line for this one started with Bookmaker posting 1 ½-points in favor of West Virginia. That was quickly bet up to the Mountaineers being a two-point road faves and ultimately to WVU -2½ by Friday morning.
The total opened at 125 ½ last week on the very early overnights and was bet up at least two points across the board at offshore shops. The 'over' looked so tasty, and I bit. Came back sour.
It marked the third consecutive 'under' and gave the low side of the total a 7-3 edge the last 10 meetings, including the last two played here in Steel City.
This wasn't supposed to be Pitt's year and yet here the Panthers are still in the thick of the conference race despite being picked for ninth in the mix before the season opened. This was supposed to be West Virginia's year with the Mountaineers picked second behind 'Nova. Of course, UConn was picked third and Syracuse sixth, so the preseason ratings mean squat right now.
All that matters is we finally have a great ballgame to watch on Friday night.
Rivalry Weekend gets off to a big start tonight when the Panthers host the Mountaineers in the hardwood version of the Backyard Brawl. Pitt's Jamie Dixon and West Virginia's Bob Huggins know how crucial this game is for their clubs with the winner taking temporary control of the third wheel behind 'Nova and 'Cuse in the Big East. West Virginia goes for the season-series sweep at 9 p.m. (ET) on ESPN.
All hail the college basketball gods, or at least the college basketball schedule maker, for giving us a big Friday night game. No offense to some of the previous TGIF contests, but it's sure nice to have a big, thick, juicy public game to wager.
The rematch between West Virginia and Pittsburgh has more sidebar stories than Carter has pills. Start with a couple of ranked teams, with the Mountaineers No. 5 in the latest AP rankings that end with the Panthers 25th. RPI ratings have West Va fifth as well, with Pitt at 18.
There is the revenge angle for Pittsburgh after Jamie Dixon's cast looked awful in a 70-51 loss in Morgantown just last week with the line in that game opening with the Mountaineers 8 ½-point favorites before being bet up to 10 at the closing bell.
And then there's the whole Backyard Brawl rivalry thing between the two schools who, oh, by the way, are basically locked in a battle for third in the Big East right now along with Georgetown and Louisville. It all adds up to a very crucial contest in a time slot that hasn't been filled by big-time college matchups in recent weeks.
There's no betting angle or stats like the most recent meeting between two clubs in sports, especially when that meeting took place just nine 24-hour periods ago by the time Friday's tip-off arrives at 9 p.m. (ET) at Petersen Events Center on ESPN. There's no reason to expect WVU to skate to another 19-point victory, but at the same time there's no reason to think it won't be repeated.
Pitt couldn't buy a bucket at times in that game, shooting just over 30 percent from the field overall (16-of-53) and barely 60 percent from the line. Missed free throws also troubled the team in a January home loss to Georgetown, but the Panthers have shot much better from all points on the court when they're home.
Two key players for were also all but absent for the Panthers in the loss at WVU Coliseum on Feb. 3. In fact, Dixon would've been better off not having Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown available for the action. The second- and third-leading scorers on the team respectively, Wanamaker and Brown combined to log 48 minutes and six fouls while each went 0-of-4 from the field.
It's not like West Virginia was hands down the better team in the game, though they are indeed the better team on this season. The Mountaineers did dominate the glass, 42-30 overall, and they were able to run their offense. West Va also canned a little above its season average from behind the arc, netting about 43 percent of the three pointers they took (9-of-21).
The series has split 5-5 against the spread following last Wednesday's cover by the Mountaineers. Pitt leads the straight up ledger at 6-4 in that span. The line for this one started with Bookmaker posting 1 ½-points in favor of West Virginia. That was quickly bet up to the Mountaineers being a two-point road faves and ultimately to WVU -2½ by Friday morning.
The total opened at 125 ½ last week on the very early overnights and was bet up at least two points across the board at offshore shops. The 'over' looked so tasty, and I bit. Came back sour.
It marked the third consecutive 'under' and gave the low side of the total a 7-3 edge the last 10 meetings, including the last two played here in Steel City.
This wasn't supposed to be Pitt's year and yet here the Panthers are still in the thick of the conference race despite being picked for ninth in the mix before the season opened. This was supposed to be West Virginia's year with the Mountaineers picked second behind 'Nova. Of course, UConn was picked third and Syracuse sixth, so the preseason ratings mean squat right now.
All that matters is we finally have a great ballgame to watch on Friday night.
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