Thursday night in CBB we will see the West Virginia Mountaineers travel to Western PA to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers. The game is scheduled for a 9:00 pm tipoff and will be televised live on ESPN. Currently Pittsburgh is favored by 3 points with the total being set at 135 for this game. In what could be the Backyard Brawlers' final game as Big East foes, disappointing Pittsburgh carries a spoiler role against slumping West Virginia.
Free Analysis: Pittsburgh was expected to be one of the leaders in the Big East this year, but the team began to show cracks in the armor when it lost to Wagner at home back in late December. That defeat was the first of eight in a row for the program and now, after losing to Seton Hall on the road on Sunday, the team is just 4-9 in league play and that has it sitting in the bottom fourth of the standings. Tray Woodall had one of his best games with 24 points against the Mountaineers, and could be motivated for another after struggling against Seton Hall as he shot just 2-of-10 from the field and tallied just nine points in the loss, after leading the Panthers in scoring the last 3 games. Woodall has only seen action in 15 of 26 games, but still he is a critical piece of the offense with his 12.9 ppg and team-high 97 assists. Gibbs paces the team overall with 16.7 ppg, but his 39.8 percent accuracy from the floor is less-than-impressive for someone who was expected to do so much for Pittsburgh this season. the Panthers have lost thier last 2 games in a row, but they have won their last 3 at home and have outscored their opponents by 10.7 ppg in the process. Pittsburgh ranks 114th in scoring (70.7 ppg) and 95th in shooting (45.4%0 while on defense they rank 169th in points allowed (66.8 ppg), but 234th in defensive FG% (44.2%), which is also tied for last in the Big East. As for the Mountaineers, they too were hoping for big things in 2011-12 since they had one of the most talented players in the conference in Kevin Jones, but they too have hit a rough patch as well and are just 6-7 in conference. Last weekend, the team was taken out by Louisville at home in a 77-74 final, which means WVU has now dropped two straight and five of its last six games overall, while four of the their losses during this cold spell have been by a combined 15 points.West Virginia led by as many as 13 points in the first half against the Cardinals last Saturday, but the team finished the day shooting a dismal 17- of-27 at the free-throw line, allowing Louisville to steal the win in Morgantown. Kevin Jones finished with another double-double for the hosts with 22 points and 11 rebounds, adding four assists and a steal as well, while Deniz Kilicli showed some inspired play of his own with 17 points before fouling out. Over the course of 13 conference games, Jones is still averaging a double-double with 19.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, but at some point he's going to have to realize that he's not the three-point threat that he believes he is. Bryant is putting up another 16.8 ppg, but his shooting has been horrendous more often than not, connecting on only 33.5 percent of his field goal chances and that's one of the reasons why the team is outscoring league foes by a mere 1.5 ppg at the moment. The Panthers have won four straight but trail the series 95-88. They hold a 56-34 advantage in Pittsburgh, however.
Free Pick: Both of these teams come in struggling as the Panthers have lost their last 2 games, while West Virginia has lost 5 of their last 6, But both of Pitt's losses were on the road and now they are back home where they have won their last 3 and have outscored their opponents by 10.7 ppg in the process. Tray Woodall has been key for this team and the Panthers have averaged 71 ppg since his return, compared to just 59.8 ppg in their previous 8 games without him. At home they have really been solid on the Offensive of late as they have averaged 79 ppg in their last 3 at home (all wins), compared to just 54.5 ppg in their previous 4 home contest (all losses). The Mountaineers have really struggled to score of late as they have averaged just 65 ppg (Regulation) in their last 6 games, while their defensive play has really let them down, allowing 70.1 ppg over tat same 6 game stretch, ,plus we note that WVU's defense is tied for last in the Big East in defensive FG (44.2%). Pittsburgh has really played well of late at home, plus they have current edges at both ends of the floor and I feel they should parlay all that into a solid home win here. \
Betting Strategies - College Basketball Home Court ValueHost Vegas Runner and Pregame Pro Bryan Leonard discuss that not all home courts created equal and every conference has different values.