After losing on the road at Florida State, Pittsburgh Basketball is at a crossroads in its season. They have a three-game losing streak and is closer to the cutline of a projected at-large bid than in the protected seed range. Plus, being in the ACC, the opportunities for quality wins are getting fewer and fewer.
But one is coming up in the Clemson Tigers (14-4, 6-1), who has won its last two games, including on the road at Georgia Tech. This is a Quad 2 road opportunity for the Panthers and a chance to end their losing skid.
Here are three keys to the matchup for Pitt to end on Saturday.1
1. Limit impact of Chase Hunter
The Panthers have struggled a bit against the team's best perimeter players, and Clemson has one of the best in the ACC in Hunter, who leads them with 17.4 ppg while shooting 50% from the field and 45% from three-point range. He’s had 9+ points in every game and dropped 30 on the road at Boise State. The Panthers will need to slow him down to have a shot at winning this one.
2. Do a better job of playing against their size
Two of the top teams in the ACC in terms of length and size are Duke and FSU, which Pitt didn’t handle well. But Clemson is quietly as big, led by 6’11 center Viktor Lakhin (10.3 ppg and 6.0 rpg) and 6’10 forward Ian Schieffelin, who leads the league with 10.1 rpg. Plus, 6’10 forward Chauncy Wiggins starts at the three-spot and is producing 8.9 ppg and 3.1 rpg. The Panthers’ best lineups include three guards, so Clemson will have the size advantage in the game. If they don’t do a better job as the smaller team, it could be the same result.
3. Figuring out the power forward position
I mentioned Schieffelin as the team’s starting power forward for Clemson and double-double machine, and how the Panthers deal with him is going to be very important. Neither Diaz-Graham brothers are going to do well on the boards and Zack Austin is simply too small.
Cameron Corhen is going to have his hands full with Lakhin and he has struggled himself in the last couple of games. The Panthers' frontcourt situation is going to be the key. If they can hold their own on the boards and make some shots to space the floor, they’ll have a shot at winning and ending the losing skid.