Pittsburgh Louisville Betting – Big East Clash Involves A Battle For Seeding
The Pittsburgh Panthers and the Louisville Cardinals are both trying to gain the best position they can get for the NCAA Tournament. Leverage is being fought for in Louisville.
NCAA basketball betting: Pittsburgh Panthers @ Louisville Cardinals
Why To Bet On Pittsburgh
The sports betting calculus is rather clear in certain respects, but not so certain in others: Online betting gurus know that while Pittsburgh’s offense comes and goes, the Panthers’ defense is always reliable. The Pittsburgh Penguins, by most accounts, snookered the Dallas Stars before the NHL trade deadline, and the Pittsburgh Panthers normally outfox opponents on the basketball court in Big East Conference with elite defense. Pitt’s two Big East losses this year, against Notre Dame and St. John’s, came in contests that were very low scoring. Pitt allowed just 56 points to Notre Dame and only 60 to St. John’s. Even when Pitt loses, it loses narrowly. The Panthers, under head coach Jamie Dixon, will always be competitive, and they’ll always take games down to the wire even when they’re not playing particularly well. Against Louisville, the Panthers are facing an opponent that depends on the three-point shot to thrive. Louisville hit nine three-pointers in the first half of a win over Syracuse a few weeks ago, and the Cardinals used three quick triples to build a 40-32 second-half lead over Connecticut last Friday in a game the Cards eventually won by a 71-58 score. Pittsburgh is a stronger, tougher team than Louisville near the rim. If the Panthers can lock down on Louisville’s perimeter shooters, Pitt should be able to rebound well and limit the Cardinals to one shot per trip.
Why To Bet On Louisville
The Cardinals were a mess a month and a half ago. Coach Rick Pitino’s team possessed no flow or rhythm whatsoever at the offensive end of the floor. Halfcourt sets disintegrated into turnovers and bad shots early on the shot clock. Now, UL is performing at a much higher level, as point guard Peyton Siva has begun to understand what he needs to do as the floor general for this team. Louisville’s movement is superb, and the Cardinals are burning opponents – at least in home games – on backcuts and well-angled screens. Louisville’s level of execution, combined with the return of important performers such as forward Rakeem Buckles, are giving the Cards increased options on offense and allowing Pitino to put his best combinations of players on the floor. Louisville is harder to guard and tougher to game plan for. This is exactly what this team needed before going up against an elite defensive foe such as Pittsburgh. Louisville relies on the three-point shot, but the Cardinals are a much more diverse team than they used to be. They’ve grown this season, and that growth will come in handy in this tilt at the KFC Yum! Center.
How The Game Will Play Out
The winds of NHL trade rumors are blowing through North America, and the winds of change are blowing through a Louisville locker room that really believes in itself. However, Pittsburgh has stopped almost all challengers this season. Even when the Panthers lost at St. John’s, they came very close to winning; St. John’s wing Dwight Hardy might have stepped out of bounds on the baseline drive preceding his game-winning bucket with 1.2 seconds left. Pittsburgh is the team that never goes away, and it has the goods to shut down Louisville’s surging offense. Take Pittsburgh on the road.
