Pittsburgh at Seton Hall (-1) - 5:00pm Pacific

Big game for the Pirates.  They are already 2-1 vs ranked teams this year have beaten three straight ranked teams at home dating back to last season.  Seton Hall has won four of their last five games.  During the span beat a Syracuse team that was undefeated and at full strength at the time.  They also avenged an earlier loss with a big road win at Providence.  Pirate senior point guard Andre Barrett makes this team go with a conference leading 6.5 assists per game and is a big reason that they are the only team in the Big East that has five players averaging in double figures.  The Pirates are very athletic and rebound well despite an undersized frontline.

 

Pittsburgh escaped with an 8 point road win at Notre Dame on Saturday despite falling behind 15-2 to start the game and trailing by 6 at half-time.  The Panthers benefited from a back injury to Notre Dame starting power forward Torin Francis that limited him to just 9 minutes in the game.  In my mind that was the deciding factor as the Irish did not have enough inside presence to keep the defense honest.  Irish starting guard Quinn finished 0-8 from the field.  The Panthers now must play back to back round games on just one day rest for the only time all season.  This is also their third game in six days.

 

I like the way Seton Hall matches up here.  They are the type of team that can beat anybody when they get up for a game and they should surely be up for this one.  Pirates tuned up nicely on Saturday with an impressive 27 point blowout over a decent Rutgers team.  Seton Hall also remembers the 37 point drubbing they took at Pittsburgh on senior night last season.  It was their biggest margin of defeat in 18 years.

 

Seton Hall  1 UNIT