Sport: College HoopsPick Selection: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh
I'm laying the points with PITTSBURGH. The Panthers could badly use a blowout win and I feel that Cincinnati will represent the perfect opponent. The Bearcats lost by 20 at Georgetown over the weekend. Prior to that, they had played three of the Big East's lower tier teams, South Florida, St. John's and Rutgers. After last night, those three teams had a combined record of 8-37 in conference play and all three are well below 500 overall. The last time they faced a "good team," prior to Georgetown, was a home game vs. Marquette on 2/2 and the Bearcats lost by 15. The Bearcats have had plenty of other double-digit losses on the road this season too. Back in early December, they lost by 19 vs UAB and 10 vs. Illinois State. A month later, they lost by a dozen at St. John's and then by 17 at Notre Dame. Including those results, the Bearcats are 11-17 ATS (6-24 SU) on the road over the past three seasons. The Panthers do have a really big game at Syracuse on deck. However, off three straight losses and facing a team which already defeated them earlier this season, I don't expect there to be any looking ahead. Rather, they'll be looking for some "payback," to earn that elusive 20th win and to build some much-needed momentum. The Panthers have been excellent when attempting to avenge a road loss as we find them at 3-0 SU/ATS the last three times they faced a team which defeated them on the road in the previous meeting and 8-3 ATS (9-2 SU) in that role the past three seasons. During that stretch, the Panthers were also 13-5-1 ATS when coming off a loss vs. a conference opponent. Despite coming up short vs. a good Louisville team last time out, the Panthers still played well, particularly the guards' handling of the ball. In fact, the Panthers turned the ball over only four times, the lowest number in the Jamie Dixon era. Guard Keith Benjamin recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "We talk so much about how we don't want to go out like the rest of the senior classes [in previous years]. Right now, the other senior classes are up on us. They led Pitt better. Me and Ron [Ramon] have to get something done. We have to get through to these guys. And we're going to. We have to save the season. We're not going to let it go down." The Panthers won by 20 when they hosted the Bearcats last season and I'm expecting another blowout win tonight. *Big East GOW
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