Tale of the Tape: Virginia at Pitt

Posted on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, 12:34 am

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Hot-shooting Jay Huff (30) gets a warm reception from teammates on the bench as he takes a break in the first half against Boston College (Photo by John Markon).

With just five games left in the regular season, Virginia carries its three-game winning streak up to the Steel City Saturday to face Pitt for a noontime ACC showdown (ESPN2).

The Cavaliers (18-7, 10-5) are on a roll, having won six of their last seven games and seven of the last nine, and will go up against a Panther team (15-12, 6-10) that’s dropped its last three.

The Wahoos lead the all-time series, winning 15 of the 19 meetings with Pitt, including a 9-1 mark since the Panthers joined the ACC in 2013-14. Pitt’s lone win during that span came in January of 2017 in overtime at the Petersen Events Center, which will feature a loud, intimidating “Oakland Zoo” student section Saturday.

With Virginia’s NCAA Tournament possibilities still considered “on the bubble,” every game from here on out is critically important, and the ‘Hoos can’t afford any embarrassing slip-ups.

The Cavaliers are currently a 10-seed — one of the “last four in” — according to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi and an 11-seed according to CBS Sports.

Through Thursday’s games, UVA sits at No. 51 in the KenPom ratings (4th AdjD, 212th AdjO) and No. 55 in the latest NET rankings, while Pitt is 99th overall (98th AdjD, 118th AdjO) according to KenPom and 101st in the NET.

Jeff Capel is in his second year at the helm in Pittsburgh, and is slowly moving the program in the right direction after a few dreadful campaigns (38-60, 7-47 ACC over the past three seasons, including an 0-18 conference record in 2017-18). The Panthers’ best ACC finish was 13th over that span.

Capel has his team on the right side of .500 this time around, despite the recent hiccups. Pitt lost to Clemson by 20 at home on Feb. 12, then by 10 at Virginia Tech a week ago and by 15 at Florida State on Tuesday.

The Panthers, who lead the conference in the turnover-margin category at plus-3.52. are loaded with youth and potential, with star freshman Justin Champagnie leading the charge along with three talented sophomores in Xavier Johnson, Trey McGowens and Au’Diese Toney.

Champagnie, a 6-foot-6 athletic wing out of Brooklyn, has certainly been a bright spot, leading the team in scoring (12.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg). He’s scored 10 or more points in eight of his last nine games, with a season-high of 30 coming against Georgia Tech two weeks ago on 12-of-17 shooting.

Johnson puts up close to a dozen points a contest and dishes out 5.1 assists, good for fifth in the ACC. Fellow second-year guard McGowens (12.1 ppg) is another offensive weapon, while also leading the Panthers in steals with nearly two per outing.

Toney led the Panthers with 15 points and 7 rebounds in the loss to the Seminoles. Junior big man Terrell Brown (6-10, 235 pounds), who leads Pitt with 1.7 blocked shots a night, rounds out the starters.

Juco transfer Ryan Murphy is the team’s top 3-point shooter (39-113 3PT, 35 percent), while graduate transfer Eric Hamilton and freshman forward Abdoul Karim Coulibaly should see significant minutes as well.

While the future may be bright, Pitt is struggling to keep pace in the conference standings, currently tied with a hot Miami squad for 12th.

As for the ‘Hoos, another win would improve the chances of a double-bye in Greensboro in a few weeks. Entering the weekend, Virginia holds a two-game edge over fifth-place NC State and a three-game lead over four teams — Notre Dame, Syracuse, Clemson and Georgia Tech — tied for sixth.

UVA’s offense is coming off its best performance of the season, a 78-point explosion, if you will, against Boston College in which all five Wahoo starters registered double-figure scoring — Braxton Key and Kihei Clark led the way with 17 apiece, Tomas Woldetensae and Jay Huff each added 14 and Mamadi Diakite chipped in with 10.

The ‘Hoos posted a blistering 57.8 percent from the field on 26-of-45 shooting, including a 10-for-17 showing from 3-point land, both season highs, while missing only six of their 22 free-throw attempts.

The Cavaliers will remain on the road for a Wednesday-night tilt in Blacksburg (7 p.m., ESPN2) before returning to host No. 6 Duke next Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN).

Player Stats

As of Feb. 22