Mississippi State vs Pittsburgh Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 3/14/23

The Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Pitt Panthers meet in an NCAA Tournament First Four matchup from the UD Arena on Tuesday night.

Mississippi State Team Preview

The Mississippi State Bulldogs come in with a record of 21-12 overall and an 8-10 record in SEC conference play, taking out Florida in the second round of the SEC tournament before falling against Alabama in the quarterfinals. Tolu Smith was the lone Bulldog to average double figures in scoring in the regular season, putting up team-highs of 15.8 PPG and 8.5 RPG while Shakeel Moore had 9.6 PPG and Dashawn Davis led the Bulldogs in assists with 3.5 PPG. As a team, Mississippi State averaged 65.9 PPG on 42.3% shooting from the field, 26.6% from three and 64.7% from the foul line this season.

Pitt Panthers Team Preview

The Pitt Panthers come in with a record of 22-11 overall and 14-6 in ACC conference play, defeating Georgia Tech in the second round of the ACC tournament before being ousted by Duke in the quarterfinals. Pitt had four scorers in double figures this season with Jamarius Burton and Blake Hinson each having 15.6 PPG to lead the Panthers with Hinson logging a team-high 6.2 RPG as well this season. Nelly Cummings had 11 PPG with a team-high 4.8 APG and Greg Elliott added 10.4 PPG. As a team, Pitt averaged 11.2 PPG on 45.3% shooting from the field, 36% from three and 76.1% from the foul line this season.

Pick

I’m backing Pitt in this one. I feel like the Panthers are the better team here and while Mississippi State has a solid defense, it’s not something that the Panthers haven’t seen before as they own a win over Virginia already this season and the Cavaliers’ pack line defense. I feel like at times Mississippi State relies too much on their defense to get the job done and at a certain point you have to be comfortable outscoring another team and I don’t think we see that here. Give me the Panthers.