The West Virginia Mountaineers and the Pittsburgh Panthers meet Friday in college basketball action from Petersen Events Center. West Virginia is 1-0 after an opener victory versus Mount St. Mary’s on Monday. As for Pittsburgh, they also won their opener on Monday versus TN-Martin. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
West Virginia is coming off a forgettable season in 2021-22. The Mountaineers went just 16-17 overall with a 4-14 record in the Big 12 games. That would leave the Mountaineers in last place in the standings. West Virginia eventually lost to Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament.
In their first action of the 2022-23 season against Mount St. Mary’s on Monday, West Virginia did pretty well. The Mountaineers held a 30-18 advantage by halftime and cruised to the 76-58 win. Emmitt Matthews finished with 15 points and seven boards to lead the team.
Over on the Pittsburgh side, they didn’t to so well last season either. The Panthers went 11-21 overall with a 6-14 record in the ACC. That put the team ahead of only Georgia Tech and NC State in the standings. Pittsburgh fell to Boston College in the ACC Tournament.
Pitt did pretty well in their first game of the year versus TN-Martin. The Panthers scored 37 points in the first half and 43 more in the second for an 80-58 victory. Blake Hinson put up 27 points with 13 rebounds to lead the way.
PICK: I’m going to try Pittsburgh. This should be a pretty fun matchup regardless though, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a close finish. In any case, Pittsburgh managed to score 80 points in their first game this week, even though they didn’t shoot especially well (36.6 percent). The Panthers hauled in 51 rebounds (18 offensive) and posted 21 assists to bolster their efforts. As for West Virginia, they shot 49.1 percent from the field with 45 rebounds in their opener win. With both teams coming off solid efforts, this should be a fun matchup to watch.