The Pittsburgh Panthers (16-12) travel to face off against the Louisville Cardinals (22-6) on Saturday, March 1st. This game will be played at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville and televised on ESPN2. Louisville is coming off a win in their previous game, while Pittsburgh is looking to get back on track from a loss to the Georgia Tech. Tip-off is set for 6:00 ET.

Pittsburgh Panthers vs Louisville Cardinals

The Panthers Look To Bounce Back From A Loss

Pittsburgh Panthers Recent Game/Games

Pittsburgh fell to 16-12 on the season after a 73-67 home loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday. The Panthers, who were -8.5 favorites, failed to cover the spread.

After trailing 35-30 at halftime, Pitt scored 37 points in the second half but allowed 38. The game’s total points of 140 just missed the over/under line of 140.5.

The Cardinals Look To Bounce Back From A Loss

Louisville Cardinals Recent Game/Games

Louisville improved to 22-6 on the season with a 71-66 road win over Virginia Tech on Tuesday. Despite being -10 favorites, the Cardinals didn’t cover the spread. The total points for the game were 137, falling under the 147.5 O/U line.

Louisville led 34-26 at halftime but allowed 40 points in the 2nd half while scoring 37 of their own. They’ll look to tighten up their defense in future games.

Panthers Offense Breakdown

Pittsburgh’s offense struggled in their last game, shooting just 36.8% from the field and 29.6% from three-point range. Their effective field goal percentage was 43.9%, but they did hit 81% of their free throws, going 17-for-21 from the line.

Duncan Powell led the way with 26 points, hitting 6-of-10 threes, while Jaland Lowe added 25 points and 8 assists. Baye Ndongo contributed 17 rebounds, and Cameron Corhen was perfect from the field, making all 6 of his shots.

Cardinals Offense Breakdown

Louisville put up 71 points in their last game, shooting 45.2% from the field with an effective field goal percentage of 50%. They hit 56.4% of their two-point attempts, but struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just 26.1% of their threes (6/23). At the free-throw line, they were efficient, making 9 of 11 attempts (81.8%).

Brandon Rechsteiner led the way with 18 points, hitting 4 of 7 from three-point range and shooting 60% overall. Chucky Hepburn added 15 points and 6 assists, while James Scott, Terrence Edwards Jr., and Ben Burnham each contributed 13 points. J’Vonne Hadley and Jaydon Young both chipped in 11 points, with Hadley grabbing a team-high 8 rebounds.

Panthers Team Defense

Despite Pittsburgh’s defensive efforts, they allowed 73 points in their last game. The Panthers held their opponent to 36% shooting from the field, with 21 made baskets on 57 attempts.

From beyond the arc, Pittsburgh’s defense limited their opponent to 8 made threes on 27 attempts, a 29% shooting performance. At the free-throw line, the opposing team shot 81%, hitting 17 of 21 attempts. Pittsburgh also gave up 10 offensive rebounds.

Cardinals Team Defense

Despite Pittsburgh’s defensive efforts, they gave up 73 points in their last game. The opposing team shot 36% from the field, hitting 21 of their 57 attempts.

From beyond the arc, they went 8/27, shooting 29%. They also made 17 of their 21 free throws, an 81% success rate, and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds.

Panthers vs Cardinals Trends

• In their last three games away from home, the Panthers have a straight up record of 0-3 while going 1-2 vs. the spread. The team averaged 67 points per game in this stretch.
• When looking at their past ten home matchups, Louisville has an ATS record of 8-2 while averaging 81 per game. The team went 9-1 overall in these games.
• Through their last three games as the betting underdog, the Panthers have a strong record vs the spread going 2-1. Their straight up mark in these contests is 0-3.
• In their last three contests as the favorite, Louisville has a poor record vs the spread going 1-2. But, they still put together a straight up mark of 3-0.

Panthers vs Cardinals Prediction

For a pick on the point-spread in this Cardinals vs. Panthers matchup, our bet is to grab the Panthers at +11.5. Even though our projections have the Cardinals winning 76-70, we see the Panthers as the play on the point-spread.

As for the over/under, the the line is currently at 150.5, and our model projects the Panthers and Cardinals to reach a combined total of 146 points. Our bet is on taking the under.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.