No. 1 Virginia at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. ESPNU
The Cavaliers came back from their break a little rusty but pulled away late and defeated Georgia Tech, 65-54, at home Wednesday to claim the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament. I actually spoke a little soon in my most recent blog post. Virginia still needs one more win or a Duke loss to claim its third outright ACC regular-season title in five years. But the No. 1 seed is locked up since UVa owns the tiebreaker over Duke.
Ty Jerome, who wore tape on a sprained right thumb for the past couple games and struggled shooting, seemed to regain his form as he had 18 points and made 4 of 6 3-pointers, while also adding five assists, three rebounds, and two steals. De'Andre Hunter had nine points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block, and Mamadi Diakite recorded nine points, all in the second half, two rebounds, a steal, and a block. Kyle Guy scored eight points and made 2 of 4 3s, Devon Hall had seven points and three assists, Isaiah Wilkins put up seven points, five rebounds, an assist, a steal, and
a block, and Jack Salt had six points (all in the first half), six boards, and a block.
Georgia Tech came in struggling but played Virginia really tough and was only down 31-30 at the half. UVa was a little slow guarding screens on defense in the first half but clamped down better in the second half.
It was a little bit of a concerning outing for the Wahoos given the opponent and how soundly they beat them on the road in January, but at this point in the season and with such a lofty record, you just hope the team learns from mistakes and stays healthy. The best things to come out of this game were Jerome rediscovering his shooting touch and Wilkins finding his bounce, perhaps getting stronger after his back had been bothering him. Hunter's continued solid play was great to see, and Salt played well offensively in the first half, and his six boards were tied for second most for him in an ACC game this season (he actually had seven the game before at Miami).
Virginia faces another subpar opponent next, but this one is even worse than Georgia Tech, which downed Pittsburgh, 69-54, in Pittsburgh this season. The Panthers are probably the worst Power Five team in the nation. Here's more on Pitt:
Record: 8-21, 0-16 ACC
Scorers in double digits: Junior forward Jared Wilson-Frame (12.7), freshman guard Marcus Carr (10.2)
Leading rebounders: Freshman guard Shamiel Stevenson (4.6), Wilson-Frame (3.5), freshman guard Parker Stewart (3.2), freshman forward Terrell Brown (3.1)
Assist leaders: Carr (4.2), Wilson-Frame (1.6)
Notable: Senior forward Ryan Luther only played in the first 10 games, missing the rest of the season with a stress reaction in his right foot. He's a big loss for the Panthers, as he was averaging 12.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. Stevenson and Stewart each average 8.9 points. Senior guard Jonathan Milligan averages 5.1 points. Brown puts up 4.3 ppg and blocks 1.3 shots per game. Carr averages almost one steal.
Best win: Well there aren't many to choose from. But the Panthers beat UC Santa Barbara at the beginning of the season, and the Gauchos are now 20-7.
Worst win: One that stood out when I was looking for a good win was a narrow 74-68 victory over Delaware State. The Hornets are 3-25.
Other wins: Mount St. Mary's, McNeese State, Lehigh, High Point, Duquesne, Towson
Best loss: at home in December to then-No. 18 West Virginia, 69-60, seems like a pretty good result at this point.
Worst loss: Pitt's lost by double digits in all but three ACC games, the worst being by 35, 87-52, at home against Duke. The Panthers' nonconference losses aren't too unsightly, with the worst being the season opener against Navy, 71-62. the Midshipmen are 19-11.
Other losses: Montana, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Miami, Louisville (twice), at Duke, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Syracuse (twice), N.C. State, Miami, North Carolina, Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Wake Forest
What Pittsburgh does well: This could be difficult to find. The Panthers give up 33.3 percent shooting on 3-pointers (tied-86th in nation) and a 44.1 percentage overall (196th). They are also OK
at defense in general, giving up 72.8 ppg (185th).
What Pittsburgh doesn't do well: The Panthers don't score much -- 63 ppg (345th) -- and shoot poorly: 41.4 percent from the field (321st), 33.2 percent on 3s (268th) and 69.4 percent from the line (249th). They own a -5.7 rebounding margin (333rd), give up 14.4 turnovers per game (293rd), and have a turnover margin of -3.8 (343rd). The Panthers record just 12.7 assists per game (246th) and their assist-turnover ratio is +.88 (295th).
The three conference games Pittsburgh has lost by single digits were vs. N.C. State, 72-68, vs. Syracuse, 60-55, and Wednesday vs. Wake Forest, 63-57. Simply put, if Virginia plays a solid B game, it shouldn't have any issues. Of course, sometimes crazy things happen, but Pittsburgh would have to play a great game to win, which is what it did last year. The Panthers topped the Cavaliers at home, 88-76, in overtime last season in what was a frustrating game. Pitt only won four conference games, but in that contest, it attempted 28 free throws to five for UVa and hit 13 of 21 3-pointers. But none of the players who hurt Virginia in that game will play today, and only Luther is still on the team, and he is out.
It's the stretch run of the regular season. You want your team looking sharp. Hopefully, Virginia can look a little better today than it did against Georgia Tech and start playing its best basketball again as March nears. Pitt shouldn't pose too much of a problem, but the Cavaliers maybe should be ready for a no-holds-barred kind of game from the Panthers. They certainly have nothing to lose.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 10-15 points.
The Cavaliers came back from their break a little rusty but pulled away late and defeated Georgia Tech, 65-54, at home Wednesday to claim the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament. I actually spoke a little soon in my most recent blog post. Virginia still needs one more win or a Duke loss to claim its third outright ACC regular-season title in five years. But the No. 1 seed is locked up since UVa owns the tiebreaker over Duke.
Ty Jerome, who wore tape on a sprained right thumb for the past couple games and struggled shooting, seemed to regain his form as he had 18 points and made 4 of 6 3-pointers, while also adding five assists, three rebounds, and two steals. De'Andre Hunter had nine points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block, and Mamadi Diakite recorded nine points, all in the second half, two rebounds, a steal, and a block. Kyle Guy scored eight points and made 2 of 4 3s, Devon Hall had seven points and three assists, Isaiah Wilkins put up seven points, five rebounds, an assist, a steal, and
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| Ty Jerome found his shooting touch against the Yellow Jackets, sinking 4 of his 6 3-point attempts. |
Georgia Tech came in struggling but played Virginia really tough and was only down 31-30 at the half. UVa was a little slow guarding screens on defense in the first half but clamped down better in the second half.
It was a little bit of a concerning outing for the Wahoos given the opponent and how soundly they beat them on the road in January, but at this point in the season and with such a lofty record, you just hope the team learns from mistakes and stays healthy. The best things to come out of this game were Jerome rediscovering his shooting touch and Wilkins finding his bounce, perhaps getting stronger after his back had been bothering him. Hunter's continued solid play was great to see, and Salt played well offensively in the first half, and his six boards were tied for second most for him in an ACC game this season (he actually had seven the game before at Miami).
Virginia faces another subpar opponent next, but this one is even worse than Georgia Tech, which downed Pittsburgh, 69-54, in Pittsburgh this season. The Panthers are probably the worst Power Five team in the nation. Here's more on Pitt:
Record: 8-21, 0-16 ACC
Scorers in double digits: Junior forward Jared Wilson-Frame (12.7), freshman guard Marcus Carr (10.2)
Leading rebounders: Freshman guard Shamiel Stevenson (4.6), Wilson-Frame (3.5), freshman guard Parker Stewart (3.2), freshman forward Terrell Brown (3.1)
Assist leaders: Carr (4.2), Wilson-Frame (1.6)
Notable: Senior forward Ryan Luther only played in the first 10 games, missing the rest of the season with a stress reaction in his right foot. He's a big loss for the Panthers, as he was averaging 12.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. Stevenson and Stewart each average 8.9 points. Senior guard Jonathan Milligan averages 5.1 points. Brown puts up 4.3 ppg and blocks 1.3 shots per game. Carr averages almost one steal.
Best win: Well there aren't many to choose from. But the Panthers beat UC Santa Barbara at the beginning of the season, and the Gauchos are now 20-7.
Worst win: One that stood out when I was looking for a good win was a narrow 74-68 victory over Delaware State. The Hornets are 3-25.
Other wins: Mount St. Mary's, McNeese State, Lehigh, High Point, Duquesne, Towson
Best loss: at home in December to then-No. 18 West Virginia, 69-60, seems like a pretty good result at this point.
Worst loss: Pitt's lost by double digits in all but three ACC games, the worst being by 35, 87-52, at home against Duke. The Panthers' nonconference losses aren't too unsightly, with the worst being the season opener against Navy, 71-62. the Midshipmen are 19-11.
Other losses: Montana, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Miami, Louisville (twice), at Duke, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Syracuse (twice), N.C. State, Miami, North Carolina, Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Wake Forest
What Pittsburgh does well: This could be difficult to find. The Panthers give up 33.3 percent shooting on 3-pointers (tied-86th in nation) and a 44.1 percentage overall (196th). They are also OK
What Pittsburgh doesn't do well: The Panthers don't score much -- 63 ppg (345th) -- and shoot poorly: 41.4 percent from the field (321st), 33.2 percent on 3s (268th) and 69.4 percent from the line (249th). They own a -5.7 rebounding margin (333rd), give up 14.4 turnovers per game (293rd), and have a turnover margin of -3.8 (343rd). The Panthers record just 12.7 assists per game (246th) and their assist-turnover ratio is +.88 (295th).
The three conference games Pittsburgh has lost by single digits were vs. N.C. State, 72-68, vs. Syracuse, 60-55, and Wednesday vs. Wake Forest, 63-57. Simply put, if Virginia plays a solid B game, it shouldn't have any issues. Of course, sometimes crazy things happen, but Pittsburgh would have to play a great game to win, which is what it did last year. The Panthers topped the Cavaliers at home, 88-76, in overtime last season in what was a frustrating game. Pitt only won four conference games, but in that contest, it attempted 28 free throws to five for UVa and hit 13 of 21 3-pointers. But none of the players who hurt Virginia in that game will play today, and only Luther is still on the team, and he is out.
It's the stretch run of the regular season. You want your team looking sharp. Hopefully, Virginia can look a little better today than it did against Georgia Tech and start playing its best basketball again as March nears. Pitt shouldn't pose too much of a problem, but the Cavaliers maybe should be ready for a no-holds-barred kind of game from the Panthers. They certainly have nothing to lose.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 10-15 points.
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