Pitt Hoops Game Preview: Pitt vs. Florida State

Pitt kicks off its season tonight at home against the Florida State Seminoles, in what is set to be their first game of regular-season basketball since their loss to Syracuse in the ACC tournament this past March. The ACC foes tip-off at 8 pm, and the game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

Fast Facts

• Pitt beat no. 11 Florida State by a score of 75-62 at the Petersen Events Center on Jan. 14, 2019, marking the second ACC win of the Jeff Capel era. The first was an overtime win against Louisville just five days prior.
• Following today’s game, Pitt will face Nicholls State on Saturday, Nov. 9, and Robert Morris on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Pitt’s next conference opponent will be Louisville on Friday, Dec. 6, which will air on the ACC Network.
• Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton is entering his 18th season at the helm for the Seminoles men’s basketball team. During his tenure, Florida State has posted a 356-216 record in 572 games and has reached seven NCAA tournaments. Their most recent losing season was a 12-19 campaign during the 2004-05 season.

Florida State Preview

I previewed Florida State in my most recent post from Oct. 29. Rather than re-invent the wheel, here’s what I said last week:

[Florida State] returns two talented guards in Trent Forrest and MJ Walker, who started 36 and 34 games last season, respectively.

While Florida State loses significant minutes from its frontcourt rotation with the graduations of Phil Cofer and Christ Koumadje as well as the departure of Mfiondu Kabengele for the NBA, head coach Leonard Hamilton more than made up for the loss of height as he brought in three 7-footers this offseason, including elite Serbian center Balša Koprivica. Florida State will also head to Pittsburgh with one of the premier signees of the 2019 recruiting class in five-star small forward Patrick Williams.

In Pitt’s upset over Florida State in January, Forrest scored 19 points on 11-for-12 shooting from the free throw line, and added nine rebounds and three assists. While he will surely draw a lot of attention from the Panthers, Florida State is talented up and down the lineup.

Pitt Preview

For Pitt, they benefit from returning four of their five starters from last season’s upset over no. 11 Florida State–Xavier Johnson, Trey McGowens, Au’Diese Toney, and Terrell Brown. In that game, McGowens dropped 30 points and those four starters combined for 63 of Pitt’s 75 points. Naturally, returning that much production can only help Pitt.

The fifth starter in that game was Jared Wilson-Frame, Pitt’s resident sharpshooter. It is not yet clear what the impact of his absence will be for the Panthers, but Pitt features a deeper, more talented roster than they did last season with the additions of guard Ryan Murphy, wings Justin Champagnie and Gerald Drumgoole, and big men Karim Coulibaly and Eric Hamilton.

Tonight’s Game Preview

Pitt may benefit from a lack of team chemistry from the Seminoles, which is to be expected with significant roster turnover. However, as Capel noted earlier this week, Florida State is for from the ideal matchup to open the season for any team. If Pitt is going to win this game, they’ll need to battle hard.

On the flip side of that coin, Pitt may also struggle to find their own cohesion early on, as the new roster additions seek to define their roles on the Panthers 2019-20 squad.

With so much uncertainty surrounding these teams at the beginning of a brand new season, it is difficult to predict exactly where the chips will fall tonight. Pitt heads into tonight as slight underdogs at home (+4.5), and I suspect that we will see a close basketball game. Pitt should find its way to more success on the boards with Hamilton and Coulibaly in the mix with Brown, which might ultimately be the difference for a team that needs to compete with the elite length of the Seminoles.

As we dive deeper into the season and have more film and statistics available to us, I will be able to provide more in-depth and current analysis in the game previews. For now, though, expect a hard-fought game in which the Panthers have a real shot at a win to kick off their season. And make sure to check back in with Dream Backfield tomorrow for some post-game analysis!