Miami @ Pittsburgh preview
Petersen Events Center
Last Meeting ( Mar 9, 2021 ) Miami-Florida 79, Pittsburgh 73
The Miami Hurricanes will be going for their 20th win of the season on Tuesday night when they visit the Pitt Panthers for an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup.
Miami (19-8, 11-5) has clinched its first winning season since going 22-10 in 2017-18.
But to get to 20 on Tuesday, the Hurricanes will have to beat Pitt (11-17, 6-11), which has won three of its past four games, defeating Florida State, North Carolina State and North Carolina.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga is worried about John Hugley, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward who leads the Panthers in scoring (14.5) and rebounding (8.2).
He also leads Pitt in offensive rebounds (2.8) and ranks third in the nation in free throws attempted (201).
"If (Hugley) gets a lot of room, he's unguardable," Larranaga said. "We'll try to front him and get help from behind and maybe trap him at times. But we can't pay him so much attention that their guards get loose."
Indeed, in Pitt's 68-62 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday, guard Mouhamadou Gueye scored 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting for the Panthers.
The Hurricanes also have to watch for guard Ithiel Horton, who is shooting just 30.3 percent on two-pointers but 46.0 percent on 3-pointers.
In Pitt's win over North Carolina last week, Horton shot 5 of 5 on three-pointers but was 0-4 on two-pointers. In fact, he has made eight 3-pointers and no 2-pointers in his past two games.
Overall, Horton is averaging 11.4 points.
Meanwhile, Miami is coming off a 74-71 home loss to Virginia. The Hurricanes have lost a total of four games against Virginia and Florida State this season. Against everyone else in the ACC, Miami is 11-1.
The Hurricanes lack great size, and they have been outrebounded by 110 this season. The Hurricanes also lack depth.
But Miami has a terrific starting five, and the Canes are tough to stop when they stay out of foul trouble.
Miami's Kameron McGusty ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring (17.7), and teammate Isaiah Wong is tied for ninth (15.6). Miami's third guard is the point man, Charlie Moore, who is third in scoring (12.4) for Miami and leads the Hurricanes in assists (4.0) and steals (2.1).
Jordan Miller, Miami's 6-6 wing, had 15 points against Virginia, and 6-10 Sam Waardenburg is the Hurricanes' top interior player.
One other factor of note in Tuesday's game is the status of Pitt guard Jamarius Burton, who scored just four points on 1-of-11 shooting against Georgia Tech.
"I don't know if he's a bit fatigued," Pitt coach Jeff Capel said of Burton, who leads the Panthers with 20 double-figure-scoring games this season.
--Field Level Media