RTC Live: Pittsburgh @ St. John’s
Posted by rtmsf on February 27th, 2010
RTC Live returns to Madison Square Garden for a late season Big East match between two teams who started the conference season with very different ambitions and expectations. Pittsburgh, picked by the conference coaches to finish ninth, ran up a 5-0 record to start the Big East season, but they have gone 5-5 in their last 10 games, including a sobering 68-51 beating in South Bend earlier this week. Early season talk of not missing a beat has given way to speculation on whether they can hold onto a bye seed in the Big East Tournament. The Panthers are slotted #13 on Joe Lunardi’s S-Curve, which makes them a #4 seed in the East Region, as of Lunardi’s February 22 bracket. Playing their Sweet Sixteen game (assuming they make it out of the first weekend) game in Syracuse is about as good as it gets for Pitt, and a second, consecutive loss would jeopardize their standing. The Johnnies were projected to finish #11 in the Big East, and more than a few St. John’s fans complained about lack of respect from the conference coaches. Going into this weekend the Red Storm languishes at #13 in the conference, seemingly unable, even with a squad well stocked with upper classmen, unable to escape the dreaded “last four” in the Big East. A win this late is the season is valuable to both teams. This is a head-to-head matchup between two teams who attack and defend the low post very well. Join us as two teams who will not be afraid to go body-to-body in the low post go blow for blow and possession for possession in the Garden. This is good old fashioned Big East basketball.
