Wake Forest @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 5, 2019 ) Pittsburgh 76, Wake Forest 78

Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel has been looking for more offense to match the Panthers' calling card thus far in 2019-20 - defense. The Panthers found the stroke in Monday's win over Canisius, but Capel cautions that the team cannot forget about defense when they return to ACC play Saturday when they host Wake Forest.

The Panthers scored a season-high points in the 87-79 win, shot 50 percent - including a season-best 56.3 percent beyond the arc while matching a season high with nine makes - and made a season-high 26 free throws in 33 attempts. However, they surrendered a season-high point total - 19 more than their season average - and allowed the Golden Griffins to shoot 48 percent from 3-point range and grab 17 offensive rebounds. "Obviously, we shot the ball really well and we needed it this afternoon," Capel said. "I felt like the past few games, we've gotten better offensively. What I've seen in practice is that we're getting better, and it was great to see that, but that can't be at the expense of our defense. It has to be what we hang our hat on. We have to get back to work and get back to being who we've been up to this point, which is a good defensive team." Wake Forest enters with some momentum after knocking off Xavier 80-78 on Dec. 14 and North Carolina A&T 76-64 one week later behind 51 points and 16 rebounds combined from junior Chaundee Brown.

TIME: Noon, ET. TV: ACC Network

ABOUT WAKE FOREST (7-5, 0-2 ACC): Brown (13.6 points, 6.5 rebounds), who battled an early-season foot injury and missed the Davidson game on Nov. 22, notched career highs in points in consecutive games and tied a season-high four assists against the Aggies. "He looks good to me, but I'm not a doctor," Wake Forest coach Danny Manning said after the Aggies game. "He's doing a really good job getting to the free-throw line and rebounding. He's doing a lot for us. He guarded the majority of the positions on the court. So his versatility is something we're starting to expect and lean on." Senior point guard Brandon Childress, who leads the team in scoring (16.3 points), assists (4.5), 3-pointers (19 total) and steals (18), has scored 54 points in the first two ACC games and added 22 in the win over Xavier.

ABOUT PITTSBURGH (10-3, 1-1): Freshman Justin Champagnie scored the first eight points of the game against the Golden Griffins and finished with 21 for the game, shooting 5-of-6 beyond the arc and grabbing a team-high six rebounds to go along with three steals. "Justin is very versatile, he can guard a lot of positions," said teammate Au'Diese Toney, who scored 13 points. "He can also rebound well and shoot the ball. He can do a lot of things that we need." Ryan Murphy (11.0 points, team-high 24 3-pointers) added 4-of-7 from deep and 16 points in his fourth straight game coming off the bench (27 points, seven 3-pointers in last two games) and Xavier Johnson (12.0 points, 5.1 assists) added 16 points, eight assists and a career-high four steals.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Panthers split their first two conference contests, knocking off Florida State in the season opener and falling at Louisville on Dec. 6. The Demon Deacons lost to Boston College in the season opener and at home to North Carolina State on Dec. 7.

2. Wake Forest has won the last three games in the series, including 78-76 in overtime last season. Childress and Brown scored 18 points apiece for the Deacons, while Johnson had 23 points and nine assists for the Panthers.

3. At 10-3, the Panthers finished the first half of their schedule with exactly the same record that they did last season. Pitt finished the regular season by dropping 15 of its final 18 games.

PREDICTION: Pitt 70, Wake Forest 64