The No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers remain on top of the ACC standings after last week, but they have more job to do to secure the conference’s regular-season title. As for the Panthers, they are merely trying to avoid finishing at the bottom of the league. The Cavaliers are +800 to win the national title. See odds of other teams to be the last team standing this season here.
Betting on the Pittsburgh Panthers (12-16 Overall / 2-13 Conference)
The Panthers are going nowhere, and nothing in their recent games suggest otherwise. By falling prey to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets last week on the road, 73-65, Pittsburgh extended its lengthy losing streak to 10 games. Pittsburgh is a poor shooting team, making just 42.5 percent of its shots this season, but the Panthers were worse than than in the Yellow Jackets game, knocking down just 33.3 percent of their attempts from the field. Still, they could have escaped with a victory if they only did better at the free throw line. Pittsburgh missed 18 shots (20-for-38) from the foul line against Georgia Tech.
The Panthers fared even worse on Wednesday, losing 62-48 against the Clemson Tigers. Xavier Johnson was their high-scorer (if you can call it that) with just 14-points on 32 minutes of play.
Pittsburgh will have to forget Wednesday’s game and instead continue the kind of aggressiveness that led them to get that many free throw chances against Georgia Tech, especially against a Virginia team that doesn’t give too many scoring opportunities for opposing offenses.
The over is 3-1 in Pittsburgh’s last three road games.
Betting on the Virginia Cavaliers (25-2 Overall / 13-2 Conference)
The Cavaliers are cruising once again. After their home loss to the Duke Blue Devils earlier this month, the Cavs have stitched together four straight wins, including their 64-52 thumping of No. 18 Louisville Cardinals last Saturday. They have the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at home this Wednesday before hosting the Panthers in the coming weekend. On paper, the Cavaliers look like an overmatch for Pittsburgh. Virginia has the top ranked offense and defense in the ACC per KenPom. The Cavs’ defense, in particular, is even ranked second in the nation by KenPom with 85.6 points allowed per 100 possessions. They choke opposing offenses like no other team. Virginia allows just 54.5 points per game and limits opponents to only 37.4 percent shooting from the field and 26.5 percent from deep. Against Louisville, Virginia held the Cardinals down to only 30.9 field goal percentage.
Virginia is 3-0 against the spread (ATS) in the last three meetings with the Panthers.
