Marquette Golden Eagles at Pittsburgh Panthers, Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Saturday, January 8, 2011, 2:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN3
Opening Line: Pittsburgh -8
Current Line: Pittsburgh -8.5
Opening Total: 148
Current Total: 145.5
Money Line: Pittsburgh -420 / Marquette+345

The Marquette Golden Eagles (11-4, 2-0 Big East) and Pittsburgh Panthers (14-1, 2-0) will both look to remain unbeaten in conference play on Saturday when they meet for the only time this season.  The Panthers (-8.5) have won four straight games since suffering their only loss of the season to Tennessee back on December 11 and will try to beat the Golden Eagles for the fourth time in a row.

Pittsburgh is coming off an 83-79 victory at Providence on Tuesday behind a team-high 19 points from Gilbert Brown, who made 7 of 8 shots from the field, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range.  The Panthers led 38-31 at halftime but trailed 76-73 with 1:31 remaining.  Travon Woodall gave them the lead back though on a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left and made four free throws after that to seal the win.

That victory for Pitt followed a 78-63 rout of Connecticut in the team’s Big East opener on December 27.  The Panthers let Kemba Walker score 31 points for the Huskies but held everybody else to single digits in an impressive defensive performance.  UConn made only 31.7 percent of its shots from the field while Pittsburgh connected on 52.1 percent.

Marquette has also been known for playing tough defense in the past, but the team’s offense has gotten more attention recently.  The Golden Eagles have scored 73 points or more in eight of their last nine games, the exception being a 69-64 loss to Wisconsin on December 11.  They won 73-65 at Rutgers on Wednesday as Darius Johnson-Odom tied a season high with 29 points.  Johnson-Odom made 9 of 13 shots from the field, including five 3-pointers.

This could be a high-scoring affair since the Panthers rank third in the Big East in scoring – averaging 80.7 points per game – while Marquette is slightly ahead, ranked second at 80.8 ppg.  The OVER has cashed in seven of the last 10 meetings, although the total has gone UNDER in three of the past four games between the teams.

Pitt is 142-11 all-time at the Petersen Events Center, but the Golden Eagles won there in overtime back in 2007, 77-74.  The Panthers have won four of the past five meetings both straight-up and against the spread, including a 58-51 victory last year.  They had four players score exactly 10 points while Marquette shot just 35 percent from the field in the loss.

Now that you have read this college basketball betting preview featuring Pittsburgh & Marquette, check out the basketball odds on this and all the games to compare the best lines at multiple sportsbooks.