Villanova Wildcats at Pittsburgh Panthers, Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Saturday, March 5, 2011, 4 pm Eastern, TV: CBS
Opening Line: Pitt -9.5
Current Line: Pitt -9
Opening Total: 134.5
Current Total: 134.5
Money Line: Pitt -500 / Villanova +400
The fourth-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers (26-4, 14-3 Big East) can clinch the top seed in the conference tournament and the regular-season title by completing a season sweep of the 19th-ranked Villanova Wildcats (21-9, 9-8) on Saturday. The Panthers (-9) can also accomplish that feat with a loss by #8 Notre Dame at Connecticut earlier in the day.
The bigger news though is just how much Villanova has fallen as the team picked to finish second behind Pitt in the preseason. The Wildcats have lost three in a row and five of seven, failing to cover any of their past seven games along with 10 of 11. They had covered seven straight games earlier in the season and were ranked seventh in the country following an 11-game winning streak.
All of that is history with questions now about how Villanova will perform in the postseason. Can the Wildcats forget their recent slide and turn things around in the Big East tournament? Perhaps, but they will likely need to go on a run without a bye after getting crushed 93-72 at Notre Dame on Monday. The Fighting Irish connected on a school-record 20 3-pointers and led by as many as 32 points, putting an exclamation point on a brutal stretch for Villanova.
The Panthers contributed to those woes for the Wildcats with a 57-54 road win on February 12. They did so without leading scorer Ashton Gibbs, who missed three games with a sprained MCL in his knee. Instead, it was Brad Wanamaker who stepped up with a game-high 21 points. Wanamaker will be one of three seniors honored, contributing to one of Pittsburgh’s most successful classes. The only thing missing is a trip to the Final Four.
Wanamaker was on the Pitt team that lost to Villanova 78-76 in the 2009 NCAA tournament, as Scottie Reynolds hit the game-winning shot in the final seconds that prevented the Panthers from going to their first Final Four since 1941. That loss still stings and has helped motivate him and his teammates ever since.
Three Wildcats also played in that game – seniors Antonio Pena, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes. Fisher (toe) and Stokes (knee) have both nursed injuries this season, contributing to their shooting woes and the struggles of the team as a whole. In the previous two games before the loss to Notre Dame, Fisher had missed 22 of 26 shots from the field, including all 16 of his 3-point attempts. He bounced back by scoring 22 points against the Irish on 8 of 17 shooting.
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