Pittsburgh @ Virginia preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 24, 2018 ) Virginia 66, Pittsburgh 37

No. 2 Virginia certainly impressed Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner after Wednesday's 81-51 rout and has designs on a second straight ACC regular-season title and fourth in six years. The Cavaliers, tied for the top spot with North Carolina and one game clear of the Blue Devils, seek a sixth straight win Saturday when they host struggling Pittsburgh.

Ty Jerome scored 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, added five rebounds and four assists, De'Andre Hunter had 18 points and the Cavaliers used a 25-4 run in the first half to bury the Yellow Jackets. “They’re a very, very good team. Their team is good enough to win the national championship and I think they have multiple pros on their team - first round draft picks," Pastner said afterward. "In this league, to win at that level that they’re winning, you have to have draft picks. You have to have at least one, maybe two, and they have them." Virginia, whose only two losses this season were to Duke, closes the season at Syracuse and home versus Louisville, while the Tar Heels have games remaining with Clemson, Boston College and Duke. Pitt's great 12-5 start got pushed further into the background after suffering its 11th straight loss, 62-48 to Clemson on Wednesday.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ACC Network

ABOUT PITTSBURGH (12-16, 2-13 ACC): The Panthers trailed by as many as 22 points and shot just 27 percent in dropping their fifth straight at home after starting 2-1 at the Petersen Events Center in ACC play. Pitt has been outscored 88-41 by its past four opponents in the first 12 minutes, and the team has shot 33.3 percent overall in the four contests, including 21.8 percent in the first 12 minutes. “I think it's fatigue and the wall. Its confidence, it’s a lot of stuff that we’re dealing with," Pitt coach Jeff Capel said about his team's prolonged struggles. The things that we can control, we have to do a better job at controlling those things. I thought we were doing that a little bit earlier in the season and we’ve had some slippage there recently."

ABOUT VIRGINIA (25-2, 13-2): One of the players Pastner was talking about was Hunter (15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists), a projected lottery pick who reached double figures for the 14th straight game and has averaged 18.7 points on 62.7 percent shooting over his last five games. Freshman 5-9 point guard Kihei Clark (4.1 points, 2.4 assists) had eight points in his ninth start of the season, going 3-for-3 from the field with a career-high six assists while playing terrific defense on Georgia Tech star Jose Alvarado. "He was very efficient and effective tonight in the game, so that really helps any time we can get that," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "Other guys stepping to the plate and scoring and impacting the game that way is good, and I thought he guarded well, as usual, and was active on the ball."

TIP-INS

1. The Cavaliers have won three straight and 10 of 11 in the series, while the Panthers have lost 10 straight against top-10 teams.

2. Virginia has secured a double bye for the ACC tournament, reached 25 victories for the ninth time in school history (five times in 10 years under Bennett) and won 13 or more league games for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

3. Pitt freshman G Xavier Johnson (16.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds) scored 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting against the Tigers, but he also committed eight of the team's 13 turnovers.

PREDICTION: Virginia 85, Pittsburgh 57