Dutelle’s Take

What a heavyweight clash we have on our hands here. Forget about Georgetown’s struggles… What a heavyweight clash we have on our hands here. Forget about Georgetown’s struggles early on this season – this team is every bit as dangerous as we had it pegged to start the season.

Georgetown has everything you could want in a team. They are big, fast and strong. They defend well, and they are deep. What they don’t have, though, is the guard play that is going to win them this game.

Pitt’s guards have been great, to say the least. Not only have the turnovers been low, but the Panthers are proving to be even more dangerous from behind the arc than anybody could have anticipated. This means if Aaron Gray is either off or neutralized, which very well could be the case tomorrow, Pitt can still win.

The key stat is a simple one, but it’s one that you might not expect to make the difference in such a huge game – turnovers. Pitt takes better care of the ball (11 turnovers a game) than Georgetown (nearly 16 a game), and when two teams are pretty evenly matched, it very often comes down to who commits the fewest mistakes.

Georgetown will either give Pitt the 3-point shot or take its chances with Gray’s offense. It doesn’t matter which, though. Pitt’s guards are too good, especially at home in primetime.

Geoff’s prediction: Pitt 72, Georgetown 67