Pitt Panthers at Georgia Tech: Game Info, Odds, Three Storylines

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers have suffered consecutive losses for the first time since November and escaped the most difficult part of their schedule with two victories over ranked opponents, a one-point loss to the league’s first place squad and an eight-point loss on the road at no. 24 Duke.

This has historically been a danger zone for Jeff Capel-led teams. Now it’s time to start stacking wins if the Panthers want to avoid a second half collapse. Beginning with a mid-afternoon tip-off against the Yellow Jackets, the Panthers’ next three opponents own a combined record of 15-35. Pitt has tested their mettle against some of the best teams in the ACC and fared as well as one could hope, but now it is time to take care of business before the slate gets tougher.

Game Info

Opponent: Georgia Tech (8-8 overall, 1-5 ACC)
Time: 3:00 PM EST
Location: McCammish Pavilion; Atlanta, Georgia
Broadcast: ACC Network and 93.7 The Fan

Odds

The Panthers are 1.5-point favorites over the Yellow Jackets. Pitt is -134 on the moneyline and the Yellow Jackets are at +112. The total points over/under has been set at 142.

Three Storylines

Swarming Jackets

Georgia Tech has fallen on hard times ever since winning the ACC Tournament in 2021, but one thing is for certain about Josh Pastner teams – they will defend their tails off and that holds true this season. The Jackets are 104th nationally in defensive efficiency, 81st in effective field goal percentage defense and 22nd in 3-point defense.

Pitt struggled mightily on the offensive end – especially in the second half – at Cameron Indoor Stadium earlier this week. The Panthers acknowledged in their postgame press conferences that they were too stagnant and leaned on isolation plays too frequently. Ball movement will be key for a Pitt team that is undefeated and averaging 71.4 points per game when recording 13 or more assists.

A bounce-back game from Nelly Cummings – who owned an assist-to-turnover ratio of 0:4 against Duke – would do wonders for the Panthers. He and Jamarius Burton had done an excellent job distributing and taking care of the ball over the past seven weeks, but were sloppy in Durham.

Rebounding and Rebounding

If the Panthers want to get back to their winning ways, it’ll have to start on the glass. Two games in a row, Pitt has been dominated on the boards – -31 in total rebounding margin and -13 in offensive rebounds, with most of that damage coming against the Blue Devils.

Winning on the defensive glass helps Pitt get their transition game going on offense and prevents exhaustion built up over long possessions. Meanwhile offense rebounds have the same effect on the opponent and allows the Panthers to get more open looks from deep off scrambles for the ball.

This is a Georgia Tech roster that boasts just two players taller than 6’9 and only one – 6’10 forward Rodney Howard – averages more than 10 minutes per game. It’s unlikely that Pitt will face teams as big, strong and athletic in the frontcourt as Duke and Clemson and they will need to take advantage if they want to get back in the win column.

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Road Warriors

Pitt has enjoyed the comforts of home for most of this season. The Panthers have played 10 of 17 games at the Petersen Events Center, and have won eight of those ten home contests. The road has been less forgiving.

Pitt is 3-4 away from the Pete with their point differential sitting at a shaky -5 over those seven games. The Panthers have played some good competition on the road but haven’t looked very good doing it. They got blown out by Michigan and lost a nail-biter to VCU in Brooklyn and suffered dominance in the paint at Vanderbilt, nearly blew a double-digit lead at Syracuse and actually did blow a double-digit lead to the Blue Devils.

Pitt Panthers at Georgia Tech: Game Info, Odds, Three Storylines

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