Staff Picks: Pitt takes on Louisville at home

The Pitt Panthers return to action tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center as hosts of the Louisville Cardinals. Pitt enters this game on a three-game winning streak after beating North Carolina 65-64 last Wednesday. Jeff Capel’s team had the weekend off and despite being laid off will try to carry the momentum into tonight.

Louisville comes to town with a dismal 3-20 record. The Cardinals are in big trouble under first-year head coach Kenny Payne. Louisville finally broke through, winning its first ACC game against Georgia Tech last week, followed by a loss to Florida State on Saturday.

The two teams met in Louisville on January 18th. Pitt started this game slowly but eventually asserted control en route to a 75-54 victory in the KFC Yum! Center. In that game, Greg Elliott torched the Cardinals for 23 points to lead Pitt.

The Panthers have remained one of the most consistent teams in the ACC all season. Pitt comes into this game with a 9-3 conference record, and thanks to some new help in the standings, he’s now firmly in the running for the ACC regular-season title. To stay competitive, Pitt needs to take care of business at home, especially against teams like bottom-of-the-table Louisville.

Can Pitt do it at home tonight? Panther-Lair.com staff are watching today’s game.

Stefan Gertz (15-8): No need to complicate it: The Pittsburgh Panthers are a good team, but the Louisville Cardinals are not. That doesn’t mean Pitt can just assume Louisville is coming to town just to turn around. In years past, this was the type of game that made me a little nervous. But this Panthers team is focused, and the reality for the Cardinals is that they’re not really good at anything. This is a chance for Blake Hinson to get back on track, for Nelly Cummings to show some consistency with his shot and for the rotation players to gain more experience. Of course everything has to go according to plan, but I just can’t imagine UL putting up so much resistance. They cough up the ball at a very alarming rate, don’t shoot the ball well and basically allow layups.
Prediction: Pitt 80, Louisville 65

Houston Wilson (15-8): After a nice extended break, Pitt is back at home tonight against a very poor Louisville team. Kenny Payne didn’t have the first year he wanted at his alma mater and one of the reasons is that they just don’t have the right staff for the ACC. Payne didn’t do a good job creating this squad and should have been more active on the transfer portal. With the chance of a tie for the ACC lead tonight, I think Pitt is firing on all cylinders and has a chance to win at 15+ tonight. Pitt will have several players in double figures tonight with a chance to bring even more rest to some of their starters.
Prediction: Pitt 83, Louisville 68.

Matt Steinbrink (10-13): At 9-3, Pitt is in a legitimate position to win the regular-season title. This particular team is an older group with experienced players throughout the roster. They’ve been locked up for months now and don’t seem prone to mental letdowns. That would be what the Panthers would need to lose this one. El Ellis is a creepy guard who will likely get his and the Cardinals recently won one league game and took the lead in a few others, but it’s a tall order for them. Even though they’ve improved, there’s still a huge gap between these two teams. It’s difficult to play against conference opponents multiple times, but this one is cheap this season. Even after a poor start down the road against the Cardinals, Pitt eventually won by 21 points. Can they win again with that margin and cover the 16.5 point span? I’m not sure if it’s going to be a blowout, but the Panthers should dominate this one from start to finish.
Prognosis: Pitt 75, Louisville 61

Jim Hammett (15-8): Louisville just aren’t a very good team this season. It’s hard to imagine a program like this in a place like this, but for Kenny Payne it was a disaster in its first year. Despite the 3-20 record, Pitt has to watch out for Louisville point guard El Ellis. He’s averaging 17.2 per game and while not overly efficient at times, he’s still dangerous. Pitt has yet to go out tonight with the attitude that they are playing for their NCAA tournament lives and also have a shot at winning the conference. Given the maturity and leadership of Pitt’s team right now, I see no reason to believe that won’t happen with what’s at stake for this team. Pitt once beat this Louisville team by 20 points and they should prevail again in front of the Oakland Zoo tonight. Jamarius Burton will do his thing and Pitt wins comfortably.
Prediction: Pitt 81, Louisville 64

Chris Peak (16-7): Is this a trap game? Maybe, for other teams, it could be. Louisville has three wins and one win in the ACC game all season. The Cardinals aren’t doing very well, and Pitt has a revenge trip to Florida State on Saturday; might overlook the Panthers at the Petersen Events Center Louisville tonight? Yes, I think anything is possible. But I bet this team and especially these players will not fall into that trap. I think this month will show the value of this team’s experience and experienced leadership. These guys have played enough college basketball to know the dangers of missing an opponent or accepting a win. I think they’re going to approach tonight’s game against Louisville with as much urgency (or something like that) as they did last Wednesday’s game in North Carolina. They know the value of every win they get and I think they will apply that focus to this game. Jamarius Burton will get back into the high teens or low 20s when it comes to goals and I think Blake Hinson will bounce back from the UNC game with another big performance.
Prognosis: Pitt 79, Louisville 60

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