Coming into the season, Pittsburgh and NC State were two teams with NCAA Tournament potential. However, both teams have fizzled out in the past two months, with the Panthers falling completely out of the bubble picture, while the Wolfpack may not even make the ACC Basketball conference tournament.
Here’s a look at three key storylines to watch for Wednesday night’s matchup.
Stars vs depth
Pitt has two of the top scoring guards in the ACC in Jaland Lowe (16.7 ppg and 5.3 apg) and Ishmael Leggett (16.3 ppg and 5.8 rpg). The problem for the team is when they aren’t on; they’ll need Zack Austin or Guillermo Diaz-Graham to make 3s, or else the offense falls apart. Meanwhile, NC State’s offense already has major issues, only scoring 69.6 ppg. Marcus Hill leads them with 11.7 ppg, though they do have six players putting up at least six points a night. The Wolfpack has been able to get wins with a collective effort, can they do it again vs Pitt?
Rebounding
This category isn’t a strength for either team, as the Wolfpack ranks last in defensive rebounding, while the Panthers have been outrebounded by almost every team they’ve played in the past two months. The leading bigs, Cam Corhen (Pitt) and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (NC State), have struggled in that category. If one team can get an edge in that battle, look for them to get the edge.
Playing for seeding
As poor of a run as this has been for Pittsburgh, there’s still a chance they can move into the first-round bye spot for the ACC Tournament. They just need to win against two of the bottom teams and have Georgia Tech lose its final two games. Meanwhile, NC State is one loss away from missing out on the postseason altogether. We’ll see who is motivated in this matchup, with there still being plenty on the line.