Saturday college basketball and we will see the Notre Dame Fighting Irish travel to the Petersen Events Center to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers. The game has a start time of 12:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on the ACC Network. Current Vegas betting odds have Notre Dame listed as 4.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 135.
Analysis: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have gotten off to a very nice start this year as they currently have an 20-2 record and are ranked 8th in the nation. Notre Dame comes in off a hard fought 77-83 win over Duke on Wednesday night, which now gives them and 8-1 mark in the ACC. Notre Dame has gone 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games following a S.U. win and 6-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Pittsburgh but just 10-21-1 ATS in their last 32 vs. the ACC. The Irish have been a very good offensive squad this year, ranking 9th in scoring (81.6 ppg), 2nd in shooting (52.1%), 17th in 3 point shooting (40.2%) and 69th in FT shooting (72.2%). The defense for this team has been solid, ranking 111th in points allowed (63.6 ppg), 97th in defensive FG% (40.7%) and 185th in 3 point defense (33.6%).
The Pitt Panthers come in having lost their last 3 games in a row, including a shocking OT loss at Virginia Tech their last time out. The Panthers are now 13-8 on the year, which includes a 3-5 mark in the ACC and a 9-2 mark at home. Pittsburgh has gone 20-42 ATS in their last 62 home games and 5-20-2 ATS in their last 27 games following a ATS loss. The Panthers have been a very average offensive squad this year, ranking 185th in scoring (67.3 ppg), 163rd in shooting (42.7%), 239th in 3 point shooting (32.5%) and 103rd in FT shooting (70.9%). The defense for this team has been decent, ranking 123rd in points allowed (64.0 ppg), 226th in defensive FG% (43.7%) and 215th in 3 point defense (34.3%).
Pick: I am going with the Irish in this one. I know this is a bad spot for them as they are coming off a huge win vs Duke, while Pitt is off a bad loss at Virginia Tech, but still if the Irish lose this game then the win over duke means nothing. The Irish showed something after the win over Duke as their fans did not rush the court. this was a team that expected to win and they will show up fully focused for this one vs a Pitt team that has lost 3 in a row, including one to lowly Va tech. Pittsburgh has been a horrible ATS team at home te last few years and they are also 5-20-2 ATS following an ATS loss. Look for Notre Dame to win this one by at least 8 points.
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