Pitt-Marquette game prediction

Saturday, 16 February 2013 10:07

Written by Ray Fittipaldo

Pitt-Marquette game prediction

(Season record: 7-5)

Pitt is 1-4 against Marquette at the Bradley Center since Marquette joined the Big East in 2005. The lone victory came in 2012, when the Panthers won their most recent Big East regular-season championship. If they want to win a final championship before departing for the ACC they’ll probably have to find a way to win today.

Pitt enters today’s contest one game behind Georgetown for first place in the conference standings and a half game behind Marquette and Syracuse for second place. A loss to the Golden Eagles wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it would make a championship a far-fetched proposition with only five regular-season games remaining afterward, especially since Marquette would own the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping the season series.

So how does Pitt keep its winning ways intact? The first step is playing better on the defensive end than when Marquette visited the Petersen Events Center and shot 48 percent in a 74-67 overtime victory.

The second is rebounding. Marquette, which ranks seventh in the league in rebounding margin, found a way to win the battle of the boards in the first meetings, 38-33.

And the third is running better offense. The Panthers shot just 39 percent in that first meeting and no one other than Lamar Patterson, who was 7 for 9 from the field and 6 for 7 from 3-point range, could do much against the Golden Eagles.

Pitt has improved immensely on defense since that first meeting. Five of the past eight opponents have shot 40 percent or less.

The rebounding has been much better, too. Only Cincinnati has outrebounded Pitt in the past eight games, and the Bearcats were so impotent offensively that it did not matter.

That brings us to the offense, which is likely to decide whether the Panthers can win today. Tray Woodall missed all but four minutes in the first game against the Golden Eagles after getting concussed. His presence will help, but it’s going to take a team effort to win in such a tough environment. The bench will be important because Marquette coach Buzz Williams plays a 10-man, and sometimes 11-man, rotation.  

I picked against Pitt last week on the road at Cincinnati. I won’t make the same mistake again.

Pitt 63, Marquette 59

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