Pittsburgh @ Louisville preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 26, 2019 ) Pittsburgh 51, Louisville 66

Pittsburgh will be facing long odds when it travels to No. 1 Louisville on Friday. The Panthers have lost 21 straight Atlantic Coast Conference road contests - the last 18 against ranked road opponents - and are 2-17 all-time versus AP No.1 foes.

Louisville enters the game ranked third in the nation in offensive efficiency (113.3 points per 100 possessions) and fourth in defensive efficiency (85.7), but it was the defense that forged a 58-43 victory over fifth-ranked Michigan on Tuesday in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Cardinals held the Wolverines to 26 percent shooting, including 3-of-19 beyond the arc, while preseason All-American Jordan Nwora had 22 points and 12 rebounds. "I think the story of the game was just our defensive effort from the beginning of the game all the way through," Cardinals coach Chris Mack said. The Panthers have won five straight, including the last three against major-conference teams, and are led by Xavier Johnson, who is averaging 14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists during the winning streak after a slow start.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ACC Network

ABOUT PITTSBURGH (7-2, 1-0 ACC): Johnson (11.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists) scored a season-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and added eight assists against the Scarlet Knights, while backcourt mates Trey McGowens and Ryan Murphy added 16 and 15 points, respectively, in a 71-60 win over Rutgers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday. "I thought offensively it was one of the better games we’ve played percentage-wise and most importantly with having 18 assists on 27 field goals," Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. "I think we’re getting a little bit better at understanding how to play and move without the ball." McGowens (team-high 12.0 points, 1.7 steals), who shot 6-of-9 from the floor and added four steals, sparked a 13-0 second-half run with six points to help put the game away.

ABOUT LOUISVILLE (8-0, 1-0): Senior center Steven Enoch (11.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.3 blocks) had 13 points and 10 rebounds, while senior forward Dwayne Sutton (10.3 points, 8.8 rebounds) had 11 boards as Louisville topped Michigan 48-41 in that category. Nwora, a 6-7 junior (21.9 pts, 7.5 rebounds), has 175 points in eight games - the most by a Louisville player in the last 20 years through eight games. Nwora, who takes 37.5 percent of the Cardinals' shots when he's on the floor - 11th highest in Division I - is shooting 46.7 percent beyond the arc.

TIP-INS

1. Pitt beat an unranked Louisville team 89-86 last year behind a career-high 33 points by McGowens - the Panthers' only win in the last 14 games in the series.

2. Pitt has four major-conference wins, as many as they had in all of 2018-19.

3. Sutton, who is 21-of-26 on 2-pointers, 8-of-16 on 3-pointers and owns a low 9.2 turnover percentage, has the No. 1 offensive rating in the nation according to KenPom (154 points per 100 possessions).

PREDICTION: Louisville 65, Pitt 52