College Basketball Preview: Pittsburgh Panthers vs Clemson Tigers
Written By David Hess (Follow me on Twitter @DavidHess311)
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Where: Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina
Lines: Clemson -3
Total: -138.5
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The Pittsburgh Panthers come in off a hard fought two point road win over the Seminoles, which now has them at 5-2 in the ACC so far this year. Panthers took on Florida State on the road on Saturday and they really got off to a lackluster start, trailing the ‘Noles by 10 points at the half. Jamie Dixon then read them the riot act at halftime and the Panthers responded by outscoring FSU 41-29 in the 2nd half to grab the 74-72 win. The Panthers really grabbed the momentum down the stretch as FSU had issues scoring once leading scorer Malik Beasley fouled out. The Panthers had come in losers in two of their previous three games and Coach Dixon stated that it was a game they really needed to win. The Panthers are currently in a four way tie for 3rd place in the ACC at 5-2. Sterling Smith and Jamel Artis led the team in scoring with 16 points each, while James Robinson also had a solid game with 14 points, three rebounds and five assists. Michael Young rounds out the double digit scorers with 13. Interesting to note that Pitt hit just 39.2% of their shots overall and just 66.7% from the charity stripe, but they also hit 43.9% of their shots from long range. Young leads the team in scoring at 16.8 ppg, while Artis (16.1 ppg) and Robinson (10.1 ppg) also average in double digits for the Panthers this year. The Panthers come in at 33rd in the nation in scoring (81.1 ppg) 32nd in shooting (47.9%) and 55th in three point shooting (37.8%), while on defense they are 48th in points allowed (65.8 ppg), 95th in defensive FG% (41.4%) and 74th in three point defense (32.1%).
The Clemson Tigers have been playing very good basketball of late and they just may be a team to watch in the ACC, especially with the way they play defense. The Tigers come in at 5-2 in the ACC and they had won five conference games in a row until Virginia took care of that with a 69-62 win last Tuesday night. That’s right, the Tigers haven’t played in a week.The Tigers shot well in the game overall, hitting 46.3% of their shots, but they may have lost the game from behind the arc, where they hit just 33.3% (8-24) of their shots. A few more of those go in and they win the game. The leading scorer in the game for the Tigers was Jaron Blossomgame, who had 23 points, while also grabbing six rebounds. Landry Nnoko had 15 points to round out the double digit scoring for the Tigers in the loss. Defensively it was not their best game as they allowed the Cavs to hit 54.3% of their shots overall and 57.1% (4-7) of their long range shots. Blossomgame (16.4 ppg) and Donte Grantham (10.3 ppg) are the only players on the team that average in double figures for the Tigers, who check in at just 268th in the nation in scoring (69.4 ppg), while hitting just 43.8% of their shots, which is 195th. The Tigers are more of a team that relies on defense as they are 16th in points allowed, giving up just 62.7 ppg, while allowing teams to hit just 41.4% of their shots, which is 98th.
Free College Basketball Play
[530] Clemson -3 Over Pittsburgh
I like the Tigers here as they are at home and have had plenty of rest, while the Panthers come in having gone just 2-2 in their last four games. Overall the defensive numbers are solid for both teams, but at home the Tigers have allowed just 55.8 ppg, while the Panthers have allowed 71 ppg on the road. It will be that stifling home defense that wins it for the Tigers here.
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