College Hoops Picks 1/28/09: Pittsburgh Panthers @ Villanova Wildcats

Pittsburgh Panthers @ Villanova Wildcats
Wednesday, Jan. 28—7:00 PM EST

Preview

After a short-lived stint as the top team in the nation, the Pittsburgh Panthers (No. 3 AP, No. 3 Coaches, 6-1, 18-1) fell short against Louisville by six points ten days ago. But since then it's been all gravy as they've taken down Syracuse and West Virginia by 18 and 12 points, respectively.

Villanova (No. 21 AP, No. 21 Coaches, 3-3, 15-4) is yet to win against a Top 25 team this season. They had a very light non-conference schedule, and it caught up with them once they faced some of their tougher opponents. Their three Big East wins have come over Seton Hall, St. John's, and South Florida—not exactly the cream of the Big East crop.

The Panthers' two key players have been DeJuan Blair (F, 14.7 PPG, 12.7 RPG) and Sam Young (F, 18.8 PPG, .357 3P%)—when they are on they have been unstoppable, although when they've been off, Pitt's run into trouble (they both had off nights against Louisville).

Villanova's guard-heavy lineup has found surprising success from their senior center, Dante Cunningham (16.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG). He has been outstanding so far this season, but he ran into some trouble against Hasheem Thabeet, one of the best big men in the Big East—it will be interesting to see how he matches up against Blair. On any given night, Cunningham can be fed the ball from any of Nova's three star guards—Corey Stokes (10.1 PPG, 1.0 APG), Corey Fisher (9.9 PPG, 2.8 APG), or Scottie Reynolds (14.7 PPG, 4.2 APG)—although the most consistent has been Reynolds.

Stats

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
Pittsburgh	18-1	6-1	9-5	2	10	77.3	59.8
Villanova	15-4	3-3	7-7	26	40	74.4	62.2

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
Pittsburgh	47.7	38.2	35.4	31.7	65.1	43.5	8.0	17.9	11.8
Villanova	45.1	38.9	36.1	32.3	74.7	40.8	7.7	14.8	12.7

Prediction

Current Line: Pittsburgh -3.5

Pittsburgh ATS: 9-5, 8-4 when favored
Villanova ATS: 7-7, 1-2 when underdog

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the Panthers dominate the paint too much for Dante Cunningham to be successful, and while the guards of Guard-U are very talented, they are not going to be able to make up the difference.

Pick: Pittsburgh -3.5

*All statistics for this article have come from StatSheet.com*

*This article is also featured on CFBPlace.com—and soon to be featured on CBBPlace.com*