UCONN vs Pittsburgh Pick and Preview
Connecticut Huskies (27-2) at Pittsburgh Panthers (26-3) – Saturday, March 7 - Noon Eastern - CBS Since the calendar flipped to 2009, Connecticut has lost one game, 76-68, against Pittsburgh Feb. 16. Connecticut has a chance to avenge that setback, and clinch at least a share of the Big East Conference championship, during the UConn at Pitt game Saturday.
Connecticut will have a full week off to prepare for the game between two of the best teams in the nation, while the Pitt Panthers host Marquette Wednesday before hosting the Huskies. CBS will televise the Connecticut-Pittsburgh game at noon Eastern on Saturday.
Entering this week, UConn leads the Big East with a 15-2 record. Louisville is one-half game back at 14-2, while Pitt is 13-3. Louisville hosts Seton Hall Wednesday and plays at West Virginia Saturday. With two wins, Louisville will clinch at least a share of the Big East title. For Pitt to win at least a share of the league title, it needs to win its last two games and hope for Louisville to lose at least one.
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Season Results:In the first UConn-Pitt game this season, both teams were ranked in the Top 4 nationally, with Connecticut holding the #1 ranking. But Pittsburgh's physical style wore down the Huskies, and Pitt's DeJuan Blair dominated the game, scoring 22 points while pulling down 23 rebounds. Blair also stymied UConn big man Hasheem Thabeet, limiting him to five points and four rebounds, and Blair highlighted his dominance by inadvertently throwing Thabeet to the floor after the two tangled while going for a rebound, creating a highlight that ESPN's SportsCenter showed multiple times.
The Connecticut-Pittsburgh game marked the second contest the Huskies had played without junior guard Jerome Dyson, who injured his knee Feb. 12 against Syracuse. Dyson, who will miss the postseason, averages 13.2 points for UConn.
By losing at home to Pitt, Connecticut saw a 13-game win streak snapped.
Pittsburgh's win against UConn, meanwhile, was the Panthers' sixth in what would become a seven-game win streak that would see Pitt climb into the #1 ranking in the national polls for the second time this season. But, just as Pitt did the first time it climbed atop the polls, the Panthers promptly lost, this time 81-73 at Providence Feb. 24.
Something will have to give in the Connecticut-Pittsburgh game. Pitt is undefeated at home this season (17-0) entering Wednesday's game with Marquette, while UConn has not lost on the road all season (9-0). Pittsburgh has not been tested at home this season, with its closest contest being a 70-59 win against West Virginia Feb. 9. UConn's closest road games this season were a 68-64 win at Buffalo and a 61-55 win at West Virginia.
Point Spread Records:Entering the week, Pittsburgh has won eight of its last 11 games ATS. At home, Pitt has won four of its last five games ATS.
Connecticut, meanwhile, has struggled ATS since the Dyson injury, losing four of the five ATS games it has played without him. Before losing Dyson, the Huskies were in a stretch where they had won five of six games ATS.
In the first Connecticut-Pitt meeting, UConn lost as a 2.5-point favorite. The Huskies lost the last time they traveled to Pittsburgh as well, 63-54, in 2007. Pitt was a 7-point favorite in that game.
Connecticut, as a 4-point favorite, won a home game against Pittsburgh, 60-53, last season.
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