Pitt vs. Albany: Open Gamethread

Yep, it's New Year's Eve and Pitt has a game...this afternoon, no less. Not sure what kind of crowd will be showing up at the Pete today, but it'll be a small one..

Albany checks in at 6-6 and isn't a real good team with losses to Drake, Quinnipiac, Duquesne, Bucknell, Holy Cross, and Colgate. Their best win to date is probably over 6-5 Rider or 6-5 Brown. Woof.

The Great Danes rank near the bottom of Division I in scoring (66.4 points), rebounding (33.8), and assists (11.3) per game. Just nothing to really get excited about. No one player scores 15 points a game for them and even their leading scorer, Peter Howley (14.5), shoots only 37% from the field.

Still, if you're looking for a few things that could cause Pitt trouble ...

Albany's defense has been stout, giving up only 66.2 points per game. That's good enough for 69th in D-I. They also shoot free throws well, hitting just over 76% as a team - good for 13th in the nation. If Pitt gets them to the line enough, they'll hit the majority of them.

Other than that, though, just not too much here to be that concerned about. If the game is close, it would be a disappointment and pretty much prove that Pitt was looking ahead to their ACC games.

Game is at 1:00 p.m. and if you're watching and off of work, be sure to check in and comment live during the game, which will be on ESPN3. In the meantime, leave your pre-game thoughts below.

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