Pittsburgh vs Wright State Preview and Thursday Free Pick

Pittsburgh (3) Vs. Wright State (14)
Thursday, 3/15 @ 9:30
Betting Line From Bookmaker: Pittsburgh -10   

The # 11 nationally ranked Pittsburgh Panthers (27- 7, 12- 4 Big East) finished second in their conference to the Georgetown Hoyas. They will face the Wright State Raiders (23- 9, 13- 3 HOR), which finished tied for first in their division with Butler. In their final game, Wright State upset #17 Butler 60- 55 to win the Horizon Tournament.

Pittsburgh has a great “D� that can shut down opponents readily. They used it to control and beat some tough nationally ranked teams, including #15 Louisville and #19 Marquette. The Pitt offense is led by 7-foot senior center and potential NBA first round pick Aaron Gray (14.1 PPG, 9.6 RPG). The strong Panther inside game is helped by swingman Mike Cook (10.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.6 APG)—a junior who also shoots from downtown (45% accuracy). Guard Antonio Graves (9.4 PPG 2.1 RPG, 2.4 APG) and point guard Levance Fields (9.3 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.5 APG) are solid ball handlers and good outside shooters.

The Wright State frontcourt is small and that may just be the entire story in this mismatch. Senior guard Deshaun Wood (19.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.9 APG) is the whole package. Unfortunately, there’s no one else on the team even close to his talent or skill level. Drew Burleson (8.8 PPG, 5.8 RPG), a senior forward, will have to do yeoman’s work to keep this club in the game.

The Panthers look like the straight up winners here unless the Raiders can find a secret defensive strategy that will control Aaron Gray, but lets not count the Raiders just yet. Brad Brownell has done an excellent job with this team. Since they lost at Butler in January, the Raiders are 14-2 straight up and against the spread including 2 wins over Horizon league rival and 5th seeded Butler. We do expect Wright State to keep it close and we will use Wright State +10 as our free march madness pick for Thursday.

Thursday Free NCAA Tournament Pick – Wright State +10

Keep getting updated tournament coverage on our 2007 march madness page. Including each game previewed, free picks and live college basketball odds.

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