Pittsburgh has been struggling and ACC wins have been hard to come by.
The Panthers are 9-16 overall and 4-10 in the ACC, with league victories over Boston College, Louisville, Syracuse and Florida State. Three of the four ACC wins came at home. Pittsburgh has lost four out of the last five games, but are coming off a 56-51 win at FSU.
NC State plays at Pittsburgh at 3 p.m. Saturday on ACC Network.
Overview
Pittsburgh sophomores John Hugley, a center, and versatile guard Femi Odukale have become the cornerstones of the program. Both have three years of eligibility remaining after this season due to the COVID year.
Guard Jamarius Burton of Charlotte (N.C.) Independence has found a home after playing at Wichita State and Texas Tech. Stony Brook transfer Mouhamadou Gueye and Delaware transfer Ithiel Horton start at power forward and shooting guard respectively.
Pittsburgh went through an overhaul last spring after star Justin Champagnie entered the NBA Draft, and point guard Xavier Johnson (Indiana) and Au’Diese Toney (Arkansas) transferred. Guard Nike Sibande also got hurt in the preseason.
Rankings
Pittsburgh is No. 184 in the NET rankings this season, and NC State is No. 132.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Panthers currently ranked No. 182 overall, and NC State is No. 116.
KenPom.com has Pittsburgh at No. 184, and NCSU checks in at No. 127.
RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 187 in the country, and Pittsburgh is No. 198.
Shooting
Pittsburgh is averaging 61.6 points per game and is shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 32.2 percent on three-pointers and 68.6 percent at the free-throw line.
Horton went off for 7 of 13 on three-pointers en route to 25 points in the 56-51 win at FSU on Wednesday. He is shooting 45.2 percent for the season. Gueye has made a team-high 32 three-pointers.
Rebounding
The Panthers are averaging 34.6 rebounds per game, and allowing 31.7 boards a contest. Pitt is averaging 10.1 offensive rebounds per game.
Hugley lead the squad with 8.1 rebounds per game, with Gueye second with 5.9. Hugley has 67 offensive rebounds.
Defense
Opponents are averaging 66.4 points per game, and shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from three-point land.
Gueye has an impressive 55 blocks this season, and six players have at least 13 steals, led by Odukale with 25.
Depth
Pittsburgh played four guys off the bench against Florida State, but none more than 10 minutes. Senior guard Onyebuchi Ezeakudo is the lone guard off the bench.
Sophomores Noah Collier and William Jeffress, along with freshman Nate Santos bolster the forward spots. Jeffress is averaging 3.9 points and 3.7 rebounds in 23.1 minutes per game.
Star Watch
Pittsburgh second-year freshman center John Hugley had a rocky start, but has hit his stride.
Pittsburgh and NC State battled for Hugley, who attended Cleveland (N.C.) Bush in the class of 2020. He collected 26 offers during the recruiting process after losing a good amount of weight, and Rivals.com ranked him No. 80 overall in the country.
The 6-foot-9, 240-pounder played seven games his freshman year, but was suspended for the season after getting charged with helping steal a car. Hugley did what was need through the legal system and Pittsburgh and was re-instated back to the team.
The post player has emerged this season, averaging 13.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per game. He is shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 70.7 percent at the free-throw line. Hugley isn’t a three-point threat at 5 of 33 on the season.
Hugley has seven double-doubles this season, and opened the season with a bang, getting 27 points and 10 rebounds in a 78-63 win over The Citadel on Nov. 9. He exploded for 32 points and 13 rebounds in a 69-67 victory vs. Boston College on Jan. 8.
Hugley has hit a wall of late, with 11 points over his last three games, shooting a collective 5 of 17 from the field. He’s reached double figures in 16 games, including 20-plus in six contests.
Likely starters
NC State
PG — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, R-Soph., 18.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.5 spg)
SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 160, Fr., 15.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.4 spg)
G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, Jr., 7.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.8 apg)
PF — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 200, Sr., 13.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.2 spg)
C — 21 Ebenezer Dowuona (6-11, 225, Soph., 4.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.1 apg, 1.7 bpg) or 11 Jaylon Gibson (6-10, 220, Soph., 2.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.3 apg)
Pittsburgh
PG — 2 Femi Odukale (6-5, 185, Soph., 12.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.0 spg)
SG — 11 Jamarius Burton (6-4, 205, Sr., 12.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.0 spg)
G — 12 Ithiel Horton (6-3, 200, Jr., 9.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 1.3 spg)
PF — 15 Mouhamadou Gueye (6-9, 210, Sr., 9.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.2 apg, 2.2 bpg)
C — 23 John Hugley (6-9, 240, Soph., 13.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.2 apg)
Numbers Of Note
14.1: Points per game for Charlotte, N.C., native Jamarius Burton in ACC games. He’s shooting 40.0 percent from three-point land in league contests.
42.5 Percentage for PIttsburgh’s free-throw rate, which ranks second in the NCAA. Center John Hugley ranks 15 in the country in free-throw rate (69.0 percent).
185: Career blocks by senior power forward Mouhamadou Gueye, who played for two years at Stony Brook. He had eight blocks against Florida State on Wednesday.
Game Within The Game: Pittsburgh’s Femi Odukale vs. NC State’s Dereon Seabron
Second-year freshman guard Femi Odukale has tried to fill the void from the various injuries and suspensions in the Pittsburgh program.
The 6-5, 185-pounder is averaging 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, and is playing some of his best ball of late. Odukale has reached double figures in 10 ACC games, and he had 25 points and six steals in a 76-71 loss vs. Virginia Tech on Feb. 5, and he added 23 points in a 91-75 loss at Wake Forest on Feb. 2.
Odukale is shooting 39.9 percent from the field and 35.1 percent from three-point land. However, Florida State shut down his scoring this past Wednesday. He went 0 of 8 from the field, but did add seven rebounds and six assists, both season-highs (third time with seven boards).
Rivals.com ranked Odukale at No.132 overall in the class of 2020 coming out of Springfield (Mass.) Commonwealth Academy. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was a spring addition to Pittsburgh. Odukale averaged 6.6 points and 2.2 assists in 20.4 minutes per game his freshman year.
NC State guard Dereon Seabron is a little bigger at 6-7 and 180 pounds, and is averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He’s 9 of 36 from beyond the arc for 25.0 percent, but is shooting 51.5 percent from the field.
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