Pitt will aim to improve its NCAA Tournament resume on Tuesday when it travels to face Clemson.
Clemson (19-8, 9-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) is coming off back-to-back wins over Georgia Tech and Florida State and is projected by many bracketologists to comfortably make the field of 68 teams in March Madness. The Tigers — 23rd in the NCAA’s NET rankings, 24th in KenPom, 4-3 against Quad 1 teams and 4-3 against Quad 2 teams — are projected by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi to be a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
But Pitt (18-9, 9-7) — despite having a nearly identical record to Clemson — seems to currently be on the outside of the tournament field. Pitt is 47th in the NET, 54th in KenPom, 3-5 against Quad 1 teams and 2-2 against Quad 2 teams. ESPN doesn’t even project the Panthers among the last four teams in the field at the moment. Simply put, the Panthers’ wins aren’t as good of quality as the Tigers’.
However, Pitt has a chance to get a coveted Quad 1 win if it beats Clemson on Tuesday. A Quad 1 win is defined as a victory over a team ranked first through 30 if at home, first through 50 at a neutral site or first through 75 on the road. For Pitt — because of Clemson’s current high NET ranking — this would be a potential win that won’t diminish in value. If the Panthers want to boost their chances of making the tournament, this is a game they have to win.
“I like where we are right now,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “Just excited about the opportunity to go down and play a really good team … We really have to do a better job defensive rebounding, defending in the post. Our ball-screen defense, our transition defense were really bad the last time we played them.”
Clemson beat the Panthers 79-70 in Pittsburgh on Dec. 3.
“We’ve got to get better, and we need to finish the ACC season the right way. We’ve got to play a little bit better in our league, and I think some of that is a credit to our league. I think our league is much better than people want to give it credit for,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “If you don’t play really well for the full 40, you get beat. And we’re a prime example of that.”
After losing by 33 points at Wake Forest last Tuesday, Pitt bounced back with a 79-64 home win over Virginia Tech on Saturday, powered by 22 points from Blake Hinson. His 18.9 points per game are second in the ACC.
Tied for third in the ACC in scoring behind Hinson is Clemson’s PJ Hall with 18.7 points per game. Hall played a season-low 16 minutes and scored just seven points on Saturday due to foul trouble against Florida State. Clemson won without him, 74-63, led by Joseph Girard III’s 24 points.
–Field Level Media