BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: PITTSBURGH @ GEORGETOWN

January 3, 2009


The marquee Big East game of the day gets off to an early start as Pittsburgh travels to meet Georgetown for a noon tip-off. Pittsburgh is the lone undefeated Big East team left and the third-ranked Panthers will be putting that mark on the line against the 8th-rated Hoyas on Saturday.

Here are some of the game stories and previews found on the web this morning:

Monroe Making it Look Easy (Wash. Times)
Early Big East Edge at Stake (Washington Times)
Whole at the Center (Washington Post)
Jury (well, Me) Still Out on Pitt (FoxSports.com)
The Court Gets Heats when Pitt Plays Rival Georgetown (Post-Gazette)
Pitt’s Young Hopes to Finally Win at ‘Home’ (Tribune-Review)


Pittsburgh will be playing their third consecutive road game on Saturday, following wins at Florida State (56-48) and at Rutgers (78-72), which opened Big East play for the Panthers.

The win over the Scarlet Knights was a true team effort as Pitt got a career high from Brad Wanamaker (15 points) as the Panther bench picked up the slack with DeJuan Blair having an off game. Blair averages 13.7 points a game and 12.1 rebounds, even after the game with Rutgers in which he played just 8 minutes.

Seniors Sam Young and Levance Fields have been through the Big East battles over the years and were key performers in Pitt’s Big East Tournament championship run last season that included a win over Georgetown in the finals. Young had 18 in the win over RU and leads the Panthers in scoring at near 20 a game in his senior season. Fields is still rounding into top shape following a foot injury that kept him out of the entire preseason. He is also on the verge of a personal milestone, entering the game with 996 career points.

The Hoyas are in the midst of a brutal stretch of games that began with Monday’s impressive defeat of Connecticut in Hartford. The Hoyas led from start to finish with freshman Greg Monroe completely neutralizing 7’3 Hasheem Thabeet.

After their game with Pittsburgh, Georgetown will meet Notre Dame on Monday night, completing a run of three top-10 match-ups in a week’s time.

In the win over UConn, DaJuan Summers had a team-high 18 points and Monroe and Chris Wright each added an efficient 16 a piece. The Hoyas have lost just once this season, on a neutral floor against Tennessee and have some revenge on their mind for the two losses they suffered to Pitt last year, including the Big East finale.

It is a heavyweight match-up to kickstart your Saturday of hoops with two teams certain to be in your March Madness betting pools. The Hoyas are a 3 1/2-point favorite in this contest.



Prediction:

Georgetown 68
Pittsburgh 65