The Pittsburgh Panthers have a big game against Vanderbilt, with both teams looking for momentum going forward. Who has the edge in this matchup?
TV schedule: Wednesday, November 24, 9:00 pm ET. ACC Network
Arena: Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Entering the season, both the Pittsburgh Panthers and Vanderbilt Commodores were projected to finish towards the bottom of their respective ACC and SEC conferences. And due to injuries, odds are good that’ll be where they land once league play comes.
For Vanderbilt (3-1), they’ve been out two projected starters on the roster in Dayton transfer guard Rodney Chatman, and Minnesota transfer center Liam Robbins, both of whom are reportedly out for at least another week. The team has missed their production on both ends on the court, as preseason Player of the Year Scotty Pippen (16.5 ppg) and breakout junior forward Jordan Wright (18.8 rpg and 5.3 rpg) have been the only sources of scoring so far this season.
Against the team’s only competitive competition, the Commordores scored just 37 points total at home to VCU in an 11-point loss. This is a team that shoots just 28% from three-point range and while having played 11 guys at least 8+ mpg so far, no one has stood out with the exception of Myles Stute, who is shooting 37% from three-point range.
Pittsburgh (2-2) is in a similar spot in terms of roster setup. They have two key pieces in Femi Odukale (11.5 ppg and 3.8 apg) and center John Hugley (16.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg), while a supporting cast that has struggled overall, especially considering that they’re missing scoring guards, Nike Sibande and Ithiel Horton for the season. They did bring back Texas Tech transfer Jamarius Burton for the past two games to add needed backcourt help and they were able to beat UNC-Wilmington and Towson, albiet by close margins.
The Panthers have a two-pronged problem. Not only are they the worst three-point shooting team in the country (24%) and take and make the fewest as well, they’re also a bottom-10 team in terms of free throw percentage (55%). They do draw a lot of free throws and that could come into play if Wright is guarding Hugley in the post but the ACC program has really struggled generating points outside of mid-range shots.
Some good news is that freshman wing Nate Santos is slowly coming along, coming off a season-high 14 points and four made three-pointers in the win over Towson. This is going to be a game where both teams need not only their two best players to combine for at least 30 points, but find enough scoring from its supporting cast to be in position to win.
This is an intriguing one because Vanderbilt didn’t crack 40 against a power conference team, while Pittsburgh’s inability to make three-pointers and free throws is a recipe to losing to anyone ranked inside the top-200. Until that changes, I have to give the edge to the Commodores in what could be an ugly game overall.
Prediction: Vanderbilt 63, Pittsburgh 53