Pittsburgh (2-5, 0-0) vs. Virginia (5-3, 0-0)
John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Virginia; Friday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Virginia looks for its seventh straight win in the head-to-head series over Pittsburgh. In its last six wins against the Panthers, Virginia has won by an average of 17 points. Pittsburgh’s last win in the series came on Jan. 4, 2017, an 88-76 victory.
LEADING THE WAY: Virginia’s Jayden Gardner has averaged 14 points and 8.3 rebounds while Kihei Clark has put up 10.9 points and four assists. For the Panthers, John Hugley has averaged 15.9 points and 8.1 rebounds while Femi Odukale has put up 12.1 points and four rebounds.
FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: Clark has made or assisted on 41 percent of all Virginia field goals over the last three games. The senior guard has accounted for 15 field goals and 17 assists in those games.
PASSING FOR POINTS: The Cavs have recently converted baskets via assists more often than the Panthers. Virginia has an assist on 46 of 78 field goals (59 percent) across its past three games while Pittsburgh has assists on 37 of 63 field goals (58.7 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Virginia defense has allowed only 56.3 points per game to opponents this season, ranking the Cavaliers 10th among Division I teams. The Pittsburgh offense has averaged 60.9 points through seven games (ranked 234th, nationally).
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