With a big matchup against Duke looming on Saturday, Louisville will look to stay sharp as they hit the road for a matchup with a tricky Pittsburgh Panthers’ team.
After a few bumps in the road, it looks like the ship has stabilized for the Louisville Cardinals. One of the top teams in the ACC entering the season, Louisville stormed out to a 9-0 start before dropping three of their next five games.
The Cardinals have recovered from that rough stretch of basketball by picking up two consecutive victories in the ACC, including a tough 67-64 victory against Notre Dame over the weekend. Three different Louisville players scored in double figures in the win, headlined by Jordan Nwora‘s 20 points.
There are a lot of talented players on the Louisville roster, but the star player that you have to watch with them is Nwora. After bypassing a chance to be a potential lottery pick a year ago, Nwora has blossomed in his junior season, averaging 20.8 points per game and 7.5 rebounds a night to become the unquestioned top dog in Louisville.
The Cardinals are currently 4-1 in ACC play, trailing Duke by just a half-game in the conference standings. The two Final Four contenders are set to play in Durham on Saturday, but before Louisville gets there they will have to deal with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
If you look purely at the won-loss record, it would seem to indicate that things are turning around for Pitt after a few rough years. A deeper dive reveals a flawed resume that includes home losses to Nicholls State and Wake Forest along with a road loss at Miami last weekend.
The two ACC schools mentioned won’t be going to the NCAA Tournament, and losing a buy game at home to Nicholls State is a serious blemish on Pittsburgh’s resume. There are good things here, however, as the Panthers have a win over Rutgers that is getting better by the day and a victory over Florida State back in November that is their best win to date.
Pitt does play stingy defense, but they simply can’t put the ball in the basket, entering play in a tie for 341st in the country in terms of points per game.
How to watch Louisville at Pittsburgh
- Date: Tuesday, January 14
- Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Pittsburgh, PA
- Venue: Petersen Events Center
- TV: ACC Network
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
- Odds: Louisville -4.5 (The Action Network)
- Pick: Louisville
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