Against the Odds: Pitt favored vs. BC

Stop everything because Pitt is favored in an ACC basketball game! I’ll give you a few moments to allow that to sink in this morning.

Pitt travels to Boston College tonight and something has to give. Vegas is betting that Pitt will be the one to end their losing streak this evening at Conte Forum, as they have installed the Panthers as three-point favorites. Pitt enters the game on an eight game losing streak, while the Eagles come in on a seven game skid. Overall, Pitt is now 12-11 and 1-9 in the ACC and actually behind BC, who has an overall record of 9-15, but are 2-9 in the conference.

Third-year coach Jim Christian will rely on sophomore guard Jerome Robinson when the game starts at 7:00 p.m. Robinson comes in averaging just under 20 points per game and Pitt’s guards will have to stay tight to him to stop their slide. Of course, there is always the wildcard of Pitt basketball games: Will they care?

Pitt is coming off two very competitive games against ACC blue bloods Duke and North Carolina. Both games were on the road and the Panthers showed up well, despite the losses. If they play with that same intensity, Pitt should finally get a win to stop this losing.

That’s been the big question though with these Panthers. It’s easy to get up for a packed Cameron Indoor Stadium or a rowdy Dean Dome, but can they motivate themselves (or respond to Kevin Stallings’ pregame speech) to really want this game? We’ll have to wait until this evening to find out.

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