Pitt
Wake Forest
Pitt Looks to Extend Road Win Streak Saturday at Wake Forest
1/22/2021 10:29:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Pitt (8-2, 4-1 ACC) at Wake Forest (3-6, 0-6 ACC)
Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021 • 6:00 PM
ACC Network • 93.7 The Fan
Winston-Salem, N.C. • Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum
The Opening Tip
• Pitt travels to North Carolina to face Wake Forest Saturday, Jan. 23 at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. with the ACC Network televising the game.
• The Panthers are looking to match their best ACC start since joining the conference. Pitt started league play 5-1 in the 2013-14 season.
• Justin Champagnie, Xavier Johnson and Au'Diese Toney - combine to average 49.7 points, 24.0 rebounds and 9.9 assists per game. The trio has registered 24 double-figure scoring games, including 11 games with 20 or more points scored. The group has combined to average 63.5 points per game over the past two contests.
• Pitt has won its first three road games of the season and is looking for its first four-game road win streak since winning the final two road contests of the 2012-13 season and the first two away tilts of the 2013-14 season.
• The Panthers have not won four consecutive road games in a single season since winning six consecutive road contests during the 2010-11 campaign.
• Justin Champagnie has posted five games with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds, including a 31-point, 14-rebound effort in Tuesday's win over Duke. He ranks second in the NCAA in rebounds (13.0 rpg.), 18th in double-doubles (5) and 31st in scoring (20.3 ppg.).
By The Numbers
• Pitt is seeking its first three-game ACC road win streak since winning its final three away contests in its inaugural season in the conference (2013-14).
• Pitt, ranked second in the ACC and fifth nationally in rebounds per game (43.1 rpg.), has outrebounded seven of its first 10 opponents. The Panthers have not averaged 40 or more rebounds per game since the 1993-94 season.
• The Panthers have held ACC opponents to 24.5 percent (32-of-130) shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Pitt leads the ACC and ranks fifth in the NCAA in three-point field goal defense (.261).
• Pitt ranks second in the ACC (14th nationally) in offensive rebounds (13.8 orpg.) and offensive rebound percentage (.356). The Panthers have a +78 scoring margin in second chance points.
• Pitt ranks 16th in defensive effective field goal percentage (.443) and 34th in adjusted defensive efficiency (92.8) and 39th in raw defensive efficiency (92.5) according to KenPom.
• The Panthers have emerged as a second half team, overcoming halftime deficits in wins over Syracuse (twice) and Northwestern. Pitt is averaging 42.1 points per game and shooting 50.0 percent from the field in the second half of play this season. The Panthers scoring jumps 10.0 ppg., while their shooting percentage is 13.3 percent better, after halftime.
• Pitt, ranked third in the ACC in assists (16.0 apg.), has recorded 20 or more assists in each of the past two games. The Panthers have assisted on 74.5 percent (41-of-55) of their made field goals in the past two games.
• Justin Champagnie earned ACC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season after recording 24 points and 16 rebounds in Pitt's home win over Syracuse last week. He joins Michael Young (2016-17) and Lamar Patterson (2013-14) as the only Panthers to earn multiple ACC Player of the Week accolades in a season.
• Xavier Johnson is 25-of-28 (.893) from the foul line in conference play. He ranks fifth in the ACC in free throw percentage (.800 - 48-of-60) for the season.
• Au'Diese Toney is averaging 17.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game over the past three games for the Panthers. He has gotten to the free throw line 30 times in that stretch, including a career-high 17 free throw attempts in the win over Duke.
• Justin Champagnie has recorded a double-double in five of his eight games played and is one of three players (along with Derek Culver, West Virginia and Kofi Cockburn, Illinois) from a Power 5 school averaging a double-doulbe for the season. He is also one of just four players in the NCAA averaging 20+ points and 10+ rebounds per game.
• Ithiel Horton has scored in double figures in three of the past five games. He is averaging 12.4 points per game, while shooting 39.4 percent (13-of-33) from three-point range in that stretch.
• Xavier Johnson has registered 25 assists with just six turnovers for a 4.17:1 assist-to-turnover ratio over the past three games. He leads the ACC in assists (6.1 apg.) and is ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.91:1).
• Femi Odukale is averaging 7.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in just over 22 minutes per game over the past four contests. He has scored in double figures twice and has a 2.6:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in that stretch.
• Justin Champagnie has posted at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in five of his past six games. He is averaging 21.8 points and 14.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 55.3 percent (52-of-94) from the field during that stretch.
• Xavier Johnson is one of eight players in the NCAA and is the only player in a power five conference averaging better than 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.
Champagnie Sets New Mark
• Justin Champagnie registered 31 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots in a Jan. 19 win over Duke to become the first player in program history to record 30+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ blocks in a game. Pitt began tracking blocks during the 1974-75 season.
• Champagnie's 30/10 game against Duke was the 28th such game in program history and the first since Sam Young tallied 31 points and 10 rebounds against Connecticut March 7, 2009.
