On Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, Pitt will host the Mastadons of Purdue-Fort Wayne in the Panthers’ final non-conference battle of the season.
Let’s dive into the preview.
PITT’S OUTLOOK
Pitt sits at 8-3 (0-1 ACC) with one more non-conference game to boost its record. The Panthers comfortably took down an abysmal South Carolina State team 86-50 over the weekend behind 19 points from Blake Hinson, 14 from Ishmael Leggett, 12 from Zack Austin. Bub Carrington had seven rebounds in the win.
However, its final non-conference opponent is no slouch…
The Mastadons are 11-1 on the year so far and are one of the highest-rated teams that Pitt has faced all year.
PURDUE-FORT WAYNE MASTADONS (11-1, 2-0 HORIZON)
HEAD COACH
Jon Coffman (10th season)
LEADING SCORERS
#0 Rasheed Bello – 6’0 G
Bello, a division two transfer from UW-Parkside, is leading the team in scoring. The Chicago native is averaging 15 points per game to lead the Mastadons, while. shooting 44% from the field, 33% from three, and 80% from the free-throw line. He is leading the team in assists with 49 this season.
#22 Anthony Roberts – 6’4 G
The fifth-year senior, who is also from Chicago, is averaging 14.9 points per contest this year on 50% from the field and 31% from three. Roberts grabs over five rebounds per game on average. He has a team-high 30 steals this year.
#1 Jalen Jackson – 6’2 G
The Fort Wayne native is shooting 53% from the field and 42% from three (only 11 makes). 72% free-throw shooter.
#3 Quinton Morton-Robertson – 5’8 G
Morton-Robertson, as mentioned above in the article, is a prolific three-point shooter. The redshirt senior is averaging nearly 13 points per game on 49% from three-point range. 33 of his 50 made field goals this season have been threes. He also has 33 assists, which ranks second on the team.
LONE BIG STARTER
The Mastadons start four guards (mentioned above) and one forward — Eric Mulder, a 6-foot-8 sophomore from Oskaloosa, Iowa. Mulder is averaging a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game, and also scored 6.5 points per contest.
TEAM STATS
The Mastadons have hit at least eight threes in nine games this season, and they are shooting 39% from three as a team (No. 21 in NCAA Division One hoops).
Purdue-Fort Wayne forces more than 18 turnovers per game on average, which ranks sixth in the country. In addition, it scores 22 points off of turnovers each game on average, which amounts to 25.5 percent of the team’s scoring, per the team’s game notes.
Purdue-Fort Wayne averages 86.8 points per game.
METRICS
Pitt is ranked No. 44 (up four spots after win over South Carolina State) in Kenpom.com’s ratings, while Purdue-Fort Wayne is ranked No. 153. The NCAA’s NET rankings have the Panthers at No. 40 and the Mastadons at No. 80.
GAME TIME
Pitt Vs. Purdue-Fort Wayne will start at 7 p.m.
SPREAD
Pitt is favored by 14 points in Wednesday night’s game, per DraftKings Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 157 points. DraftKings is also offering several player props ahead of the game, including Blake Hinson over 18.5 points (-115), Bub Carrington over 15.5 points (+105), and Ish Leggett over 14.5 points (-130). You can take Hinson to hit more than 2.5 three pointers at -130 odds as well.
TV
You can find Wednesday’s game on ACC Network Extra and on the radio on 93.7 The Fan. Jason Earle and Julius Page will be on the call.
I can’t understand how Pitt is favored by 14. This team is very decent! Look at their record. I just hope Pitt can squeak out a win!
Turns out, 14 was spot on. It was painful to watch last night except for the number of layups by the Panthers. The Mastodons play a lot of help defense but being so small got nothing inside. Panthers played good defense all night. Austin had a fine night off the bench and sparked the offense in the 2nd half.
Finally, Merry Happy.