The Pittsburgh Panthers and the Clemson Tigers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Littlejohn Coliseum. Pittsburgh is sitting at 7-11 on the year. The Panthers lost to Virginia in their last game. As for Clemson, they’re currently 10-8 and coming off a loss to Syracuse. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Pittsburgh has had a choppy season so far. The Panthers have won two consecutive games just twice this year. Over the last four outings, Pitt is 2-2 with wins over Boston College and Louisville mixed with losses to Syracuse and Virginia.
In the Virginia game back on Wednesday, the Panthers were outscored 29-25 in the first half and couldn’t catch up in an eventual 66-61 defeat. Leading the way was John Hugley with 23 points and seven rebounds. Jamarius Burton added 12 points as well.
Over on the Clemson side, they were sitting at 10-5 after 15 games. The losses in that time were to St. Bonaventure, West Virginia, Rutgers, Miami and Virginia. Since then it’s been three losses to Notre Dame, Boston College and Syracuse.
Matched up against Syracuse on Tuesday, Clemson was within one point at halftime. After a 51-39 deficit in the second, the Tigers ended up with a 91-78 defeat. PJ Hall led the way on a double-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and two steals.
The Tigers are 1-4 ATS in their last five overall and 7-2 ATS in the last nine at home. The over is 8-1 in Clemson’s last nine at home.
Meanwhile, Pitt is 4-1 ATS in their last five road games and 6-1 ATS in the last seven after a straight-up loss. The over is 5-2 in the Panthers’ last seven overall.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on Clemson here, but probably staying away due to the relatively hefty line. If nothing else, we should have a competitive matchup, though. The Tigers have had some tricky games lately; they’ve been above 70 points just once in their last seven outings. Pitt is in something of the same boat scoring-wise. The Panthers have been below 70 points in eight of their last nine games. A lot of different things could happen in this matchup, but I feel slightly better about Clemson on a potential cover.