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Pitt vs. Louisville: Open Gamethread

NCAA Basketball: Rutgers at Pittsburgh Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Every team loves getting a chance to take down a No. 1 team and the Pitt men’s basketball squad will get their shot tonight in a road matchup against Louisville.

The Cardinals are a perfect 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation. And while it’s still fairly early in the season, they’ve already notched an impressive win, defeating No. 4 Michigan by 15 points in their last game. They’ve shown both the ability to score points (hitting 80 in four of their eight games) and defense (holding opponents to under 60 points five times).

Obviously this is going to be a challenge for Pitt and even staying in striking distance would be a remarkable achievement as Louisville has not been seriously challenged this year. They did win by only six against Akron but even that was a bit of an illusion as the Cardinals had that game well in hand (up by 16 with under six minutes left) before Akron went on a run.

Nevertheless, you’ve got to play the game and this will be a good benchmark for a Pitt team that has played some good defense, despite the offensive woes. That could help them stay a bit closer than expected. The spread for this game only favors Louisville by about 12 points, and that’s a closer game than the Wolverines gave them.

Game time is at 9:00 p.m. and you can catch it on the ACC Network. Join us here to comment live during the game.

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