North Carolina State Wolfpack vs Pittsburgh Panthers Prediction, 3/9/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: NC State Wolfpack vs Pittsburgh Panthers

Date: Saturday, March 9, 2024

Location: Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: ESPN

The Pittsburgh Panthers (20-10) host the NC State Wolfpack (17-13) at Petersen Events Center on Saturday.

The NC State Wolfpack took the court against Duke and took a loss by a final of 79-64 in their last contest. In regard to personal fouls, the Wolfpack ended up walking away with 7 and Duke recorded 14 personal fouls. They also knocked down 9 of 30 shots from 3-point land. Duke ended up going 66.7% at the charity stripe by burying 6 of their 9 shots. Additionally, Duke had 32 boards (17 offensive, 15 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Duke recorded 12 dimes and had 6 steals in this contest. When it comes to defending, North Carolina State allowed 47.1% from the floor on 32 of 68 shooting. They also recorded 12 dimes in this matchup while forcing the other team into 4 turnovers and getting 4 steals. In reference to rebounding, they earned 28 with 11 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Wolfpack knocked down 7 of 14 attempts for a rate of 50.0%. North Carolina State wrapped up the contest having earned a 48.2% field goal percentage (27 of 56) and buried 3 of their 9 3-point attempts.

D.J. Burns is someone who was a factor in this game. He went 63.2% from the field and distributed 4 assists. He was on the court for 31 minutes and snagged 5 boards. He left the arena with 27 points on 12 of 19 shooting.

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North Carolina State will enter this game with a mark of 17-13 for the season. They are turning it over 9.6 times per contest and as a basketball team they commit 17.0 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, North Carolina State is collecting 35.1 rebounds per contest and has earned 383 assists for the season, which ranks 213th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. The Wolfpack are connecting on 34.5% from downtown (215 of 624) and 72.2% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 75.6 pts per game (124th in the nation) while going 44.4% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Wolfpack are able to force 12.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.1 fouls. They are giving up 34.9% on 3-pointers while they are 200th in college basketball in opponents PPG (72.5). The Wolfpack defensively are allowing an opponent FG percentage of 44.3% (764 of 1,726) and they relinquish 36.6 boards per contest as a team. They are 136th in D-1 in allowing assists with 374 conceded for the campaign.

In their last game, the Pittsburgh Panthers walked away with a victory by a final of 88-73 against Florida State. In the matter of rebounding, Pittsburgh allowed Florida State to collect 26 in total (7 on the offensive side). They shot 29.4% from 3-point land by connecting on 5 out of 17 and finished the game at 24 out of 31 at the free throw line (77.4%). The Panthers allowed Florida State to make 22 of 52 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 42.3% in this matchup. When all was said and done, the Panthers finished shooting 33 for 59 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 55.9%. Regarding shots from downtown, Pittsburgh buried 11 out of their 26 attempts (42.3%). They were able to knock down 11 of the free throws for a clip of 61.1%. Florida State was called for 16 fouls for the contest which got the Panthers to the charity stripe for a total of 18 tries. They turned the ball over 11 times, while recording 3 steals in this game. The Panthers earned 23 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 32 for this game.

Blake Hinson ended up having an impact for the Panthers in this game. He knocked down 9 out of 15 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 60.0%, and had 3 rebounds. He earned 27 points in his 37 minutes on the hardwood, but wasn't able to tally an assist.

Pittsburgh has a mark of 20-10 so far this season. The Panthers are committing 15.5 personal fouls per contest while shooting 70.0% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 13.8 times per game (131st in Division 1) and they are turning it over 9.2 times per game. Pittsburgh has accumulated 2,268 points this season (75.6 per game) and they pull in 37.4 boards per contest. As an offensive unit, the Panthers are connecting on 43.5% from the floor, which is ranked 254th in college basketball.

The Pittsburgh defense gives up 30.7% on shots from beyond the arc (198 of 645) and opponents are making 76.2% of their free throw attempts. They allow 12.3 dimes and 33.2 boards on a nightly basis, which is 126th and 93rd in Division 1. The Panthers on the defensive end are ranked 59th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 67.3. They are able to force 11.1 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 42.9% from the field (134th in D-1).

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take North Carolina State

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