Pitt vs Canisius: Game Info, Odds, Three Storylines

The Pitt Panthers will try to keep the momentum from the Backyard Brawl rolling against Canisius.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are riding high after a blowout win over West Virginia that snapped a six-game losing streak in the Backyard Brawl. 

But it's back to business two days later, with Canisius in town and eying an upset. The Panthers can roll into the real start of ACC play in a week and a half with confidence and momentum, but only if they take care of business now. 

Game Info
Opponent: Canisius (6-4 overall, 1-1 MAAC)
Time: 6:00 p.m. EST
Location: Petersen Events Center; Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Broadcast: ACC Network and 93.7 The Fan

Odds
Pitt is a 15-point favorite over Canisius, with moneyline odds not available, per Action Network, at the time of publication. The point total line has been set at 149.5. 

Live by the 3, Die by the 3
Pitt shot a season-high 38 triples against West Virginia and made 16 of them, good for 42.1% from that distance. Bombing away from 3-point land is not something that Pitt has made a habit of necessarily, even when they've won but head coach Jeff Capel thinks the Backyard Brawl is more representative of who this team is than their prior performances, at least stylistically.

"Well, that’s who we are," Capel said. "I think we can shoot the basketball. We haven't shot it well in the last four games, but this is more of who I think we can be."

It'll be a challenge to keep that up against Canisius, who boasts the No. 4 3-point field goal percentage defense in America, allowing makes on just 24% of the 19.1 3-point attempts that teams have averaged against them. 

It was a slow start shooting from distance for the Panthers this year but that could change soon. 

Avoiding a Letdown
Pitt has just polished off a brutal stretch of five straight games against Power 5 competition with a dominant win over West Virginia on the road. They took three tough losses - two of which came at home - on the chin against Florida, Missouri and Clemson but wins over Oregon State and the Mountaineers helped stabilize things. 

The Panthers bookended that mid-December gauntlet with four mid-majors to open the season and three more such games in between the Backyard Brawl and the true start of ACC play on the road against Syracuse on December 30. 

If they take care of business over these next three games against Canisius, South Carolina State and Purdue-Fort Wayne, they can walk into ACC play with a 9-3 record and loads of momentum. 

Keep Hinson Hot
Over their first eight games of the season, including a secret scrimmage against Georgetown and an exhibition game against Pitt-Johnstown, the Panthers had four different leading scorers. Over their last three, it's been the same guy putting up the most points - Blake Hinson. 

Over his last three games, Hinson is averaging 26 points, six rebounds and one assist per night while knocking down an astounding 60.6% of his 33 total 3-point field goal attempts. 

He's unequivocally Pitt's best player and they'll try to keep him hot as they take on the Golden Griffins. But as Hinson pointed out after scoring a career-high 29 points against West Virginia, "cold" isn't really in his vocabulary. 

"I'm always feeling it," Hinson said.

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