The #18 Virginia Cavaliers (18-3, 7-2 ACC) have entered the home stretch of their 2025-2026 campaign. With ten total games and nine ACC contests left on the schedule, the ‘Hoos will be looking to get back on track against the Pittsburgh Panthers (9-13, 2-7 ACC) on Tuesday night.
The ‘Hoos carry a two-game win streak back home after a successful yet mildly concerning road trip to South Bend, where they escaped with a double overtime victory over Notre Dame, and again dodging defeat in Chestnut Hill, edging out Boston College by a score of 73-66. The root of these struggles were slow starts and a failure to maintain momentum in the second half, due to ill-advised fouls by the Cavaliers and, in some cases, phantom whistles by the men in stripes.
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Virginia has opened up as a heavy favorite ahead of this matchup, but a win isn’t the only thing that Ryan Odom and the Virginia faithful will be looking for out of this team. Pitt, on the other hand, will be trying to scrape together wins in any way over the last month of the season as they are currently in a four-way tie for 15th place in the ACC, where the top 15 teams will be invited to participate in the conference tournament at the end of the regular season.
Two Matchups to look out for
1. Pitt’s defensive rebounding vs. Virginia’s offensive rebounding
Jeff Capel’s group has been solid on the defensive glass thus far this season, and it has been a group effort. The Panthers have four guys averaging over five rebounds per game, and Cameron Corhen leads that pack, grabbing nearly eight boards a game. As a team, Pitt is in the top ten in the nation in offensive rebounds allowed, as their opponents come down with only 7.1 offensive rebounds per game.
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Virginia has relied on its ability to rebound from its misses during their struggles in the past two outings, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds against both Notre Dame and Boston College. If Pitt is able to limit the Cavaliers’ success on this front, it will take a much better shooting night from Virginia to win this one comfortably.
2. Pitt’s defensive back court vs. Virginia’s four-headed monster
Guards love to see the Panthers coming as of late. Over the last five outings for the Panthers, an opposing guard has led the game in scoring in four of them. Louisville’s Ryan Conwell went for 24, NC State’s Quadir Copeland went for 20, Boston College’s Fred Payne went for 18, and Wake Forest’s Myles Colvin collected 18 points of his own.
This trend fares well for Virginia’s Malik Thomas, Sam Lewis, Chance Mallory, and Jacari White, who can go for 20+ on any given night. All four of these guys will get their fair share of shots up on Tuesday night, and Virginia as a whole will look to get back on track behind the arc in the comfort of their own home, as they are 16-for-52 (30.7%) from three over the past two games.
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One Prediction
A well-coached team with this type of talent can only be in a “slump” for so long. I like Virginia to play a clean game here and collect their eighth conference win of the year.
Virginia 83, Pitt 67
