Panthers look to build off their first P5 win
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Jacksonville is expected to finish near the bottom of the A-Sun Standings this year. First year coach, Jordan Mincy, played for Kent State in the mid 2000s (he played 7 scoreless minutes against Pitt in the 2006 NCAA 1st round). They are currently #3 nationally in pa/g, but those numbers have been boosted by several games against non d1 opponents.
Jacksonville and Artis Gilmore made the National final in 1970 against UCLA but their one man team wasn’t enough to pull the upset. The next season, Jacksonville stayed in the top 10 of the polls for the entire season but lost in the first round. They have not done much as a program since Gilmore took his 24.3 ppg and 22.7 rpg to the professional ranks. Their last tournament appearance was in 1986.
This is Pitt’s final non-conference game this season so it would be nice to pick up a win before ACC play returns in full force. Jamarius Burton (20 points) Mouhamadou Gueye (15) will look to build off impressive performances against St John’s.
Game Predictions:
- Pitt wins a predictably low-scoring affair
- Burton leads Pitt in scoring again
- Everyone is confused by the start time and sleepwalks through the first 10 minutes of the game.
Previous Predictions (Monmouth):
- Reynolds, Papas and Miller combine for 50 points but need a lot of shots to get there (counting this as a win because they took 33 shots to get 38 points)
- Hugley records another double double (14 and 13, W)
- After some bad luck, Pitt finds some way to win the game in the final minutes (L, but maybe I was just a game off on this prediction)
