Stanford Cardinal vs Pittsburgh Panthers Prediction, 1/4/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Stanford Cardinal vs Pittsburgh Panthers

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2025

Location: Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: ESPN+

The Pittsburgh Panthers (11-2) host the Stanford Cardinal (9-4) at Petersen Events Center on Saturday.

The Stanford Cardinal played Clemson and took a loss by a final of 85-71 in their last game. In relation to fouls, the Cardinal walked away with 20 and Clemson accumulated 14 fouls. They also buried 8 out of their 19 attempts from 3-point land. Clemson walked away from this one shooting 87.5% at the free throw line by converting 21 of 24 shots. On top of that, Clemson pulled down 28 boards (8 offensive, 20 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Clemson distributed 14 dimes and had 16 steals in the matchup. When discussing the defense, Stanford allowed the other team to shoot 48.3% from the floor on 28 out of 58 shooting. They also distributed 8 assists for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 31 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. From the free throw line, the Cardinal buried 11 of their 12 attempts for a percentage of 91.7%. Stanford finished the game with a 44.3% field goal percentage (27 of 61) and converted 6 of their 21 shots from downtown.

Oziyah Sellers is a guy who was a factor for this game. He finished the game at 77.8% from the field but had no assists at the end of the game. He was on the court for 36 mins and collected 4 rebounds. He accounted for 20 points on 7 of 9 shooting.

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Stanford will enter this game with a mark of 9-4 for the season. They turn it over 10.2 times per game and as a group they are committing 17.9 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Stanford is collecting 36.5 boards per contest and has accounted for 184 dimes for the year, which has them ranked 211th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Cardinal are hitting 32.9% on shots beyond the perimeter (107 of 325) and 74.2% from the free throw line. They average 77.5 points per outing (134th in Division 1) while connecting on 44.3% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Cardinal are forcing 12.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 17.7 personal fouls. They currently rank 11th in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 120 conceded for the campaign. The Cardinal defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 44.0% (318 of 723) and they relinquish 33.1 rebounds per game as a group. They are relinquishing 31.9% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 181st in D-1 in PPG from their opponents (71.1).

For their last game, the Pittsburgh Panthers walked away with a victory by a final of 86-74 when they played California. Regarding how they cleaned up the glass, Pittsburgh permitted California to grab 27 in total (7 on the offensive side). They finished 28.6% from three-point range by connecting on 6 out of 21 and ended up shooting 24 of 29 from the charity stripe (82.8%). The Panthers permitted California to bury 22 out of their 55 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 40.0% for the contest. When the game finished, the Panthers finished 26 for 52 from the field which gave them a rate of 50.0%. When discussing shots from 3-point land, Pittsburgh converted 8 of their 18 attempts (44.4%). They were able to make 26 of the free throw tries for a clip of 76.5%. California was called for 24 fouls in this contest which took the Panthers to the free throw line for 34 attempts. They also turned it over 8 times, while getting 3 steals for this game. The Panthers earned 23 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 30 in the game.

Jaland Lowe was important for the Panthers in this game. He totaled 27 points in his 37 minutes on the hardwood and had 8 assists for the matchup. He knocked down 9 out of 23 in this matchup for a field goal rate of 39.1%, and added 1 rebound.

Pittsburgh has a mark of 11-2 for the season. The Panthers are committing 16.7 fouls per game and they shoot 76.9% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 15.0 times per game (131st in college) and they turn the ball over 9.8 times per game. Pittsburgh has tallied 1,094 points so far this year (84.2 per game) and they pull down 36.8 rebounds per game. In terms of offensive execution, the Panthers are shooting 49.0% from the floor, which is ranked 38th in the nation.

The Pittsburgh defense concedes 29.8% on 3-point attempts (86 of 289) and their opposition makes 68.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 10.7 assists and 33.3 boards per contest, ranking them 38th and 133rd in college. The Panthers are ranked 110th in the country in points per game surrendered with 68.4. They are forcing 12.4 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 41.7% from the floor (117th in college hoops).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Pittsburgh

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