West Virginia Mountaineers at Pittsburgh Panthers Betting Odds

Opening Line: West Virginia +7.5 / Pittsburgh -7.5 Over/Under: 130

Time: 9 PM EST Thursday February 24, 2011 on ESPN

In the 2nd edition of the Backyard Brawl the 6th ranked Pittsburgh Panthers look to sweep the season series against the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Panthers will be going to the Big Dance while the Mountaineers are on the bubble and they can likely get off it if they can win this away game.

In the first meeting this season between these 2 teams Pitt won and they were without leading scorer G Ashton Gibbs (16.7 ppg). In that game the Panthers won the battle of the boards and scored 42 points in the paint. And now that they have Gibbs, who is shooting over 47% from beyond the 3-point arc, they will be very tough to beat.

In their last games both teams played on Saturday, but with different results, as Pitt was upset and lost to St. John’s 60-59 while WVU upset, then, 7th ranked Notre Dame 72-58.

Both teams have been mediocre bets on the season with WVU at 10-13 ATS and Pitt at 11-11 ATS. Pitt is 6-1 SU at home against WVU in their last 7 home games.

It is vital that the Mountaineers hit the boards in this game against a Pitt squad that ranks 5th in the nation in rebounds per game.

WVU did not have the best shooting game in their big win over a ranked Notre Dame team, but they played great defense holding the Fighting Irish to only 35% shooting from the floor. The especially have to worry about Gibbs and fellow G Brad Wanamaker (12.5 ppg), who are 2 of the best long range gunners in the Big East.

The Mountaineers’ backcourt duo of Darryl Bryant (11.1 ppg) and Joe Mazzulla (6.7 ppg) combined to score 40 points in the win over Notre Dame, as leading scorer Casey Mitchell (14.8 ppg) continues to come off the bench after coming back from suspension. The key player in this game for WVU may be F Kevin Jones (12.7 ppg 7.1 rpg). He will not only have to provide offense, but he really has to rebound well and not allow Pitt to dominate the glass.

Jones and the WVU frontcourt have to man up on Pitt big man 6’11” C Gary McGhee (7.3 ppg 7.9 rpg) and keep him from getting easy buckets in the paint.

Betting Trends

Pitt is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite, 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games against teams with a winning percentage above 60%, and has an Under record of 6-0 in their last 6 road games.

WVU is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games, 3-7 ATS in their last 10 road games, and has an Under record of 6-2 in their last 8 games.

Our Selection : Take Over 130 points at 5Dimes.