The Pitt Panthers and the Xavier Musketeers meet in college basketball action in an NCAA Tournament Second Round matchup from the Greensboro Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
Pitt Panthers Team Recap
The Pitt Panthers booked their spot in the second round thanks to a 59-41 win over Iowa State in their first round matchup. Nelly Cummings led the Panthers in scoring with 13 points along with a team-high 3 assists while Jamarius Burton had 11 points with 3 assists and a 9 of 10 mark from the foul line. Greg Elliott added 10 points with a team-high 8 rebounds to round out the trio of double-digit scorers for Pitt in the win. Guillermo Diaz Graham also added 8 rebounds of his own in the win.
Xavier Musketeers Team Recap
The Xavier Musketeers booked their spot in the second round with a 72-67 win over Kennesaw State in their first round matchup. Jerome Hunter lead the Musketeers with 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting with an 8 of 8 mark from the foul line while Souley Boum added 17 points with 5 rebounds. Colby Jones added 12 points with 6 rebounds and 4 assists and Jack Nunge had 10 points with a team-high 11 rebounds, a pair of steals and a pair of blocks to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Xavier in the win. Adam Kunkel added 8 points with a team-high 6 assists as well in the victory.
Trends
Pitt is 23-7 ATS in their last 30 games overall and 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 NCAA Tournament games. Xavier is 24-8-2 ATS in their last 34 NCAA Tournament games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the over is 11-5 in their last 16 neutral site games.
Pick
I’m leaning towards Pitt and the points here. The Panthers are simply a very balanced team, and I’m still a bit alarmed with what I saw if I’m looking at Xavier here even though I personally was on Kennesaw State in that game. The Musketeers were vulnerable defensively, and the Panthers have the ability to match strengths with Xavier here. I’ll side with the Panthers and the points in this one.