Virginia Basketball vs. Pittsburgh Game Preview, Score Prediction

Virginia is looking to kick off the new year with another ACC away win when the Cavaliers travel to Steel City to take on the Pitt Panthers on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh is on a four-game winning streak and is 3-0 in the ACC game, but UVA has won eight straight games against Pitt, including three straight games at the Petersen Events Center.

Read on for a full Virginia at Pittsburgh preview, including game details, an opponent’s scouting report, game notes and a score prediction.

game details

Who: Virginia Cavaliers (10-2, 2-1 ACC) at Pittsburgh Panthers (10-4, 3-0 ACC)

When: Tuesday, January 3 at 9pm ET

From where: Petersen Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

How to see: ACC network

How to stream: fuboTV (start free trial)

How to listen: SiriusXM 81, SXM App 81 | Virginia Sports Radio Network – Click here for affiliates

all-time streak: Virginia leads 19-4

Last meeting: Virginia defeated Pittsburgh on January 19, 2022 in Pittsburgh 66-61 behind 19 points and eight assists by Reece Beekman.

Opponent’s scouting report: Pittsburgh

2022-2023: 10-4, 3-0 ACC
Notable Results: vs. West Virginia 81-56L, vs. Michigan 91-60L, vs. VCU 71-67L, at Northwestern 87-58W, at NC State 68-60W, at Vanderbilt 75-74L, at Syracuse 84-82 W, against North Carolina 76-74

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Pittsburgh struggled early in the season, losing three straight games in early November, including two losses to West Virginia and Michigan by 56 points combined. Since that slide in three games, however, the Panthers have found a rhythm, winning nine of their last ten games and coming into this game on a four-game winning streak. Pitt is 3-0 at the top of the ACC standings after beating NC State and Syracuse on the road and most recently beating North Carolina 76-74 last Friday.

Like Virginia, Pittsburgh has a veteran-laden roster with a starting roster made up entirely of high school and graduate students. Four Panthers are averaging double digits, led by Blake Hinson, a 6’7″ forward, a transfer from Iowa State who, despite not playing a single game in the last two seasons due to a combination of injuries and illnesses, hasn’t played one Schlag missed earlier this season with a lead over Pitt in scoring (17.1 ppg) and rebounds (7.3 rpg) Hinson can play inside and outside, shooting 48.2% from the floor and 34.6% from 3 The matchup to be featured on Tuesday night is Blake Hinson versus Jayden Gardner, who had two great games against Pitt last year, including a last-second win in the game in Charlottesville.

6’9″ forward John Hugley was Pitt’s top scorer last season but has struggled with injuries this season and it’s unclear if he will play Virginia on Tuesday. In his place, Pitt has moved up to 6th place ’11” center Federiko Federiko turned. who has been playing very well lately, especially during the team’s four-game winning streak.

6’4″ graduate guard Jamarius Burton leads an experienced and talented backcourt trio for Pitt, who averages 15.8 points per game and shoots the three at a 43.5% average, but he has in the first 14 Playing only 23 threes attempted this season Burton is backed by two graduating transfers in backfield who aren’t nearly as shy about shooting the threes. 6’0″ Colgate transfer Nelly Cummings is averaging 11.1 points and 4.9 assists per game , while 6’3″ Marquette transfer Greg Elliott averages 10.8 points per game and shoots 39.5% from beyond the arc. Both Cummings and Elliott are high-volume three-point shooters who are ready to pull the trigger whenever they get one have an open mind.

In addition to the duel between Jayden Gardner and Blake Hinson up front, the fight between Pitt’s trio of starting guards and Kihei Clark, Reece Beekman and Armaan Franklin should be highly entertaining.

game notes

Virginia have won each of their last eight games against Pittsburgh, including both matchups in the 2021-2022 season.
The Cavaliers have won 15 of their last 16 games against the Panthers and are on a three-game winning streak at the Petersen Events Center.
UVA is 12-1 against Pitt since the Panthers joined the ACC in 2013, and Tony Bennett is 12-2 all-time against Pitt.
Virginia is ranked 11th in the most recent AP Top 25 poll and has been ranked in every AP poll this season.
With 326 wins in Virginia, Tony Bennett (326-119) has tied with Terry Holland (326-173) for the most wins in UVA program history. Bennett becomes Virginia’s all-time winning coach with his next win.

forecast

Pittsburgh have put plenty of momentum into this game, having won nine of their last ten games and four in a row, including back-to-back two-point ACC wins over Syracuse and North Carolina. Meanwhile, Virginia is hoping to build momentum of its own from a very strong display in a wire-to-wire win at Georgia Tech on Saturday, a game that was undoubtedly the team’s best offensive performance since Las Vegas. Both teams have plenty of experience and largely played good basketball in the first half of the season, but UVA’s defensive lead gives the Cavaliers the crucial advantage they need to give the Panthers their first conference loss of the season and open 2023 with an away win.

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