At a Glance: The Pittsburgh Panthers (IU -3.0) 7:00 ESPN2- Assembly Hall

Quick Facts
-Established in 1787
-First basketball season 1905-06
-28,649 students
-Located in Pittsburgh, PA
-Main colors- Blue & Gold
-2013/2014 results: 26-10 (11-7 in ACC)
-Sean Miller (Head Coach at Arizona) attended
-Final Four appearances- 1, 1941
-10 regular season conference championships
-Third matchup between the Hoosiers & Panthers (1-1)

Results Thus Far (4-2/0-0)

11/14 vs. Niagara                     W 78-45

11/16 vs. Samford                    W 63-56

11/21 @ Hawaii                       L 70-74
11/24 vs. Chaminade                W 81-68
11/25 vs. #15 San Diego St.     L 57-74
11/26 vs. Kansas State              W 70-47

Jamie Dixon holds a 262-86 record at PITT

Kenpom Rating- 37th  

PPG-67.6 (154) 

Opponent PPG- 59.2(#47)

Avg. Scoring Margin- +8.4 (76)

APG-16.4 (26)

RPG-31.6 (266)

Turnovers/game-11.0 (30)

Fouls per game-18.2 (121)

Scoring/Breakdown

Category Leaders

Michael Young leads PITT in scoring

Points
F #2 Michael Young-14.7
G #0 James Robinson-12.7

Rebounds

F #2 Michael Young-8.3

F #11 Derrick Randall- 5.0

Assists

G #0 James Robinson-5.8

G #13 Josh Newkirk-4.0

         Alright…not quite the start we wanted for the beginning of what is one of the easiest of non-conference schedules in all the land. However, Tuesday evening gives us an opportunity to step up our game in an amped up atmosphere at Assembly Hall on the national stage. While PITT has a couple blemishes on their record, any team coached by Jamie Dixon is not to be taken lightly. Even with a bad loss to Hawaii, the Panthers sit comfortably within the Kenpom rankings, almost 30 spots ahead of the Hoosiers. They don't score in droves, but are in the top 50 when it comes to opponent scoring. More notable is PITT's apparent passing ability as they sit almost crack the top 25 in that particular category. What is slightly confusing is the comment we heard from Crean after last game regarding PITT's rebounding…that they would be 'nasty' on the glass. Up to this point it doesn't necessarily look like they are dominating on that front. As we all know, however, the Hoosiers struggle mightily on the boards.

This is a MASSIVE game for our team both in terms of confidence and NCAA tourney hopes. With one already sorry loss to Eastern Washington we will need a couple of quality wins between PITT, Louisville, Butler & Gtown. Personally I feel that we NEED to win this game. Louisville will be an extremely tough match up for this young team on the road and Gtown is no slouch. Butler is definitely the most winnable game among the 4 but having 1 win going into that one would be better than none. For the game against PITT, attendance should be back on track since students have returned from break as well. For whatever reason I have a feeling we will show up like we did against SMU and find a way to pull it out when we are against the ropes. If we can't, some alarm bells will be sounding as Butler and Gtown then become huge non-conference must-wins. Louisville would be a complete shock to my system to say the least. Let's rally the troops tomorrow and have the hall rocking again. Enjoy the game, Hoosier nation!

Score Prediction: IU 63 PITT 61

IU Most Valuable Player Prediction: Yogi Ferrell

Quote Before the Game: The will to succeed is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare- The General-Bob Knight

B1G/ACC FLASHBACK 

Drink of Choice

Bell's Oberon- WINNING

For the glory of old IU...