Villanova Wildcats (7-2) vs. Pittsburgh Panthers (5-5)
Or: Finneran Pavilion (Villanova, PA)
When: Saturday December 13 at 4:30 p.m.
Betting line: To be determined
How to watch: truTV/HBO Max
How to listen: Villanova Sports Radio Network
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Net Rankings: Villanova 37, Pitt 163
KenPom: Villanova 37, Pitt 108
Torvik: Villanova 47, Pitt 107
About Pitt: The Panthers were picked to finish 14th out of 18 teams in the ACC preseason poll, and little has been done thus far to deter them. Pittsburgh has respectable losses to UCF, West Virginia and Texas A&M, as well as a home win against Ohio State, but they also have bad home losses to Quinnipiac and Hofstra. The Panthers are led by two returning players from last year’s team, forward Cameron Corhen and guard Brandin Cummings, who are averaging 14 points and 13.7 points, respectively. Transfers Barry Dunning Jr. and Damarco Minor round out Pitt’s double-digit scorers. Dunning Jr., a senior transfer from South Alabama, is averaging 11.4 points per game on 47 percent shooting from the field. Minor, a 6′ transfer from Oregon State, averages 11.2 points per game and leads the team with 3 assists per game.
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Notes on Nova: The Wildcats are coming off their first loss since opening night against BYU. The Michigan game was a reality check for Villanova, one that I’m sure Kevin Willard has used for an endless amount of teaching material in recent days. At the same time, not much went right in this game, so hopefully the ‘Cats can have some short-term memory against their old rival. One thing to note is that it appears Zion Stanford has lost a spot in the main rotation, as he’s only playing an average of 4.5 minutes over the last two games. Meanwhile, Chris Jeffery and Malachi Palmer played double-digit minutes in both games.
