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| Woodall's injury has hurt the Panthers |
Three difficult match-ups followed, with road losses against Marquette and Syracuse coming prior to another home loss to Louisville on Saturday in which they allowed the Cards to shoot 55%.
Jamie Dixon's bunch was more competitive against the three ranked opponents and has reason to hope their fortunes could turn thanks to the return to the lineup of their junior point guard Travon Woodall.
Here is a look at what has ailed Pittsburgh and what could be some keys to victory for the Friars:
Travon Woodall hoping to round into form. Solid point guard play and defense have been the backbone of Pittsburgh's success over the last ten years. From Brandin Knight to Levance Fields and Carl Krauser, Pittsburgh has always featured a tough play-maker at the 1 spot over the past decade.
Woodall looked to be that piece for this year's club. He had 10 assists in four of the team's first seven games, and not surprisingly Pitt's fortunes have taken a turn for the worse after he injured his groin in early December. The injury forced him to miss 11 games this season and Pittsburgh hasn't been the same since.
The Brooklyn native returned Saturday versus Louisville, but was largely ineffective working the rust off in an 0-5 night. How effective Woodall is tonight will go a long way towards determining the outcome of this one.
Pittsburgh's faltering defense. These are numbers you just don't expect to see from a Jamie Dixon club: they are 13th in the Big East in points surrendered, giving up over 66 per game (a shade more than PC's 66.3), second to last in defensive field goal percentage (.445), and last in defensive three point percentage (.348).
Unlike in year's past, this club lacks much of an interior presence defensively. Junior Dante Taylor has been a disappointment throughout his career, Talib Zanna isn't giving them much more in his third year on campus, while freshman Malcolm Gilbert is trying to find his footing after forfeiting what looked to be a redshirt season after McDonald's All American Khem Birch transferred to UNLV.
Taylor is their top shot blocker at a paltry .9 bpg.
They are currently ranked 14th in the conference in turnover margin as well.
Gibbs, fellow shooters producing, not excelling. While Ashton Gibbs has put up respectable numbers in his senior season (16.4 ppg, .345 from 3), he's shooting below 40% from the field and has been inconsistent throughout (a 29 point outburst against Marquette was sandwiched between 18 combined versus Rutgers and Syracuse). Many in Pittsburgh would consider it a disappointing campaign to date for the Big East's Preseason Player of the Year.
Both John Johnson and Lamar Patterson are shooting the deep ball well. Johnson is second in the Big East at .468, while Patterson is knocking them down at a .400 clip. Combined with Gibbs, they give Dixon a trio of shooters that can cause problems for Providence from long range.
Does the return of a true point guard in Woodall make these shooters more effective? Very likely, but how quickly Woodall returns to form is another question after he's missed nearly two months.
Winning the rebounding wars. While their frontcourt has largely disappointed, Pitt is still the conference leader in rebounding differential - and it's not all that close. Their +10.4 is well ahead of second ranked Villanova (+6.5). They lead the Big East in offensive rebounding percentage and rank third in defensive rebound percentage.
Taylor and Zanna are both six rebound a game players in under 20 minutes of action per game, while wings Nasir Robinson (6.8) and Patterson (5.6) are 6'5 kids who really help on the glass.
