West Virginia Mountaineers at Pittsburgh Panthers

Betting Odds

Point Spread: Pittsburgh Panthers(-7.5)
Game Total Line: (130)
(wagering lines available at 5Dimes)

The West Virginia Mountaineers will look to avoid a season sweep against their bitter rivals when they take on the Pittsburgh Panthers this Thursday night Big East showdown at the Petersen Events Center. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

West Virginia’s 72-58 victory over No.9 Notre Dame as a four-point home favorite this past Saturday followed a 63-52 loss to No. 20 Syracuse as a five-point road underdog on Feb.14. The win over the Irish was the Mountaineers third of the season over a ranked opponent to further boost their tournament resume. They are currently 17-9 straight-up (9-13 against the spread) and four games behind Pittsburgh in the Big East standings at 8-6 SU.

The big two for West Virginia this season have been senior guard Casey Mitchell, who leads the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game and shooting 43.8 percent from the field along with junior forward Kevin Jones, who has an average of 12.7 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds a game. Senior guard Joe Mazzulla leads the team with 3.8 assists and junior guard Darryl Bryant, who is averaging 11 points a game help round out the veteran lineup.

The Mountaineers are averaging 71 points and 37 rebounds a game. They are shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point range but are converting on just 69.4 percent of their attempts from the foul-line.

Pittsburgh’s five-game winning streak came to a crashing halt with a last-second 60-59 loss to St. John’s this past Saturday as a four-point road favorite. The loss dropped the Panthers to 24-3 SU overall and 11-10 ATS. It was also just their second setback in the conference as they still have a two-game lead over Notre Dame in the Big East at 12-2 SU.

Pitt’s offense continues to be paced by junior guard Ashton Gibbs and senior guard Brad Wanamaker. Gibbs is averaging 16.7 points a game and Wanamaker is averaging 12.4 points and a team-high 4.9 assists. Senior forward Gilbert Brown is third in scoring with 10.8 points and senior center Gary McGhee leads the team in rebounds with an average of 7.9 a game.

The Panthers are averaging 76 points a game and ranked fifth in the nation in rebounds with 41. They are shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from three-point range. The only real area of weakness on this team has been from the foul-line where Pitt is hitting just 66.5 percent of it attempts.

West Virginia is 2-2 ATS in its last four road games and 1-4 ATS in its last five games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in seven of its last nine games.

Pittsburgh is 3-2 ATS in its last five games at home and 3-4 ATS in its last seven games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in six of its last eight games.

Head-to-head, the Panthers have won four of the last six games SU and are 4-2 ATS. The total has gone ‘over’ in the last two meetings. Earlier this month, Pitt won 71-66 on the road in a game that closed as a pick.

Against the Spread Game Pick

The Panthers did beat the Mountaineers by 5 in West Virginia earlier this month and many betors may think that that Pittsburgh should be more impressive playing at home. However, that's not my take. The Panthers have not been blowing out teams as of late, losing 2 of their last 7 with 5 of the 7 games decided by 5 or less points. West Virginia should have regained their confidence with Saturday's dominating win over Notre Dame and motivation shouldn't be a problem with the Mountaineers needing to win at least 2 of their remaining games to make it to the "Big Dance".
Take West Virginia +7.5 at 5Dimes and get reduced juice on game day!