Pitt vs. Duke tomorrow

[Secret of the Ouse]

This will be a good game to watch to see where we might stack up against Pitt.  I personally see this game going the same way our game vs. Duke went.  I think it will be back and forth all game and Duke will pull through in the end.  Nontheless it will be nice to see how Pitt plays against their biggest test before BE play.

[MarquetteDano]

Also, like the Wisconsin-Duke game, we can find out some of Pitt's weaknesses.  There are differences, but Duke and Marquette have similarities, especially on defense.  I think seeing how Pitt handles the half-court pressure will be interesting.

[TallTitan34]

PITT really hasn't played a caliber team yet so they could be in trouble facing Duke.  Similarly I'm worried about Georgetown facing Memphis in Memphis in a few days as it's the first time they've played any team of merit since last season.

[mwbauer7]

At this point. What is better for our RPI?

In other words: Who am I pulling for?

[mwbauer7]

At this point what is better for our RPI?  Duke continuing to win, or a strong win for the conference?

In other words: Who am I pulling for?

[muhoosier260]

At this point. What is better for our RPI?

In other words: Who am I pulling for?

i would say duke. if thats our only non-conference loss, you would ideally want them to run the tables. however, we do play pitt @ home (if we played them twice i would say definitely pull for pitt) so its kind of a tossup. i will be going for the panthers though, can't stand those preppy a-holes

[Marquette84]

At this point. What is better for our RPI?

In other words: Who am I pulling for?

i would say duke. if thats our only non-conference loss, you would ideally want them to run the tables. however, we do play pitt @ home (if we played them twice i would say definitely pull for pitt) so its kind of a tossup. i will be going for the panthers though, can't stand those preppy a-holes

It's easily better for us if Pitt wins.  We play just two of Duke's opponents (Pitt & Wisconsin), while we play 16 of Pitt's (Duke, Oklahoma State and 14 other Big East foes).  The opponent's opponent record is a much bigger factor with Pitt, thus a Pitt win helps us significantly more.  A Duke win actually hurts us when we start playing Big East teams.

[Daniel]

Duke can be beat of the official call an even game and Pitts' a team that can do it.  I am picking Pitt by 4.
(I hate Duke)

[NavinRJohnson]

I think Pitt is a bit overrated, and I expect Duke to win. The fact that it is at Pitt helps, and I will certainly be pulling for them, but I think Duke is just better.

[deerchaser]

I believe it's in NYC at MSG.  That would swing the court into Duke's favor.

[DegenerateDish]

Pitt's actually something like 14-7 at the Garden. I would expect a large Pitt contigent to be on hand. I think Duke wins, but neither team should have any type of advantage when it comes to the crowd in this one.

[Henry Sugar]

Really should be a great game tonight

Pomeroy has these two teams rated #2 (Duke) and #7 (Pitt).  btw - WVU is #1, Wisconsin is #4, MU is #5, and GTown is #7.  Still don't understand how UW gets a higher rating than us, but whatever.

http://kenpom.com/rate.php

He gives Pitt a 26% chance of winning the game.

Pitt actually uses a similar formula as Marquette to help win games.  They are great at OR% (#4 in D1), they don't turn the ball over, and they get a high rate of steals.  The OR% and steals help drive a high eFG%.

Duke is really winning their games on defense and a high eFG%.  Across all four factors (eFG%, OR%, Turnover Rate, FT Rate), Duke does great on defense.  On offense, they have the #5 rated eFG%, which I'm sure is helped out a lot by shooting 44% as team from three.

I'd say the key matchups are:

• How many turnovers Duke is able to force
• How well Pitt does at preventing open shots (especially from three) to keep the FG% down
• The offensive rebound % that Pitt is able to pull down.  This is a strength vs. strength matchup.

Against Duke, we did a good job of keeping pace with them on eFG% and we did a lot better than them on Turnover Rate.  They hurt us on Offensive Rebounding % and (obviously) Free Throw Rate was a huge disparity.  That difference?  Duke 52% ; MU 35%.  That means that Duke got at least one free throw out of every two shots.  bah!

[NavinRJohnson]

Didn't realize it is at MSG. I think Duke gives Pitt a pretty solid beating.

[TallTitan34]

As Shulman pointed out though New York is Big East country.

Either way I think Duke kills Pitt.  Sure PITT is 10-0 for the 5th straight year but who have they played.

[TallTitan34]

Jim Burr is officiating.

Already two clock malfunctions 6 seconds into the game!

[TallTitan34]

Pitt has 4 turnovers in it's first 7 possessions.

[TallTitan34]

Both teams looking ugly.  Turnovers and forced shots everywhere.  PITT looks alot uglier though down 16 with 4 minutes to go in the first half.

[ozmetal71]

Duke 34, Pitt 22 at the half.  An ugly game so far, and Pitt looks really bad.

[TallTitan34]

And PITT takes the lead with 5 and a half to go!

[TallTitan34]

With 5 minutes left  and a tie game both teams have decided to shoot lights out!

[TallTitan34]

OVERTIME!

[muhoosier260]

dejuan blair = beast of the BEast!!!!!!! 20 rebounds, ridiculous

[muwarrior87]

PITT wins by 1!!

[TallTitan34]

Fields makes a 3 with 4 seconds to go to win the game!  65-64 PITT.

[drewm88]

What a game. I do not like Pitt getting the experience of winning games like this one and the Washington game.