Pitt (15-8, 6-6 ACC) at UVa (19-5, 10-3 ACC)

7 p.m., ACC Network

Virginia is the hottest team in the ACC tonight the Wahoos will put that momentum and a pair of long winning streaks on the line when the Pitt Panthers in town. UVa has won eight in a row overall and now sits in second place in the ACC. The Cavaliers are also riding the nation’s longest home winning streak at 23 games heading into a week where they’ll play back-to-back home games for the first time since mid-December.

Pitt, meanwhile, comes to Charlottesville both on a hot streak and well rested. The Panthers have won three straight and five of their last six, starting with a shocking upset at Duke on January 20. They went to Cameron Indoor with a 10-7 record overall and 1-5 mark in ACC play, and are now 15-8 and 6-6 in league play. A somewhat favorable schedule has helped them, with wins over Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, but they also rallied to beat a good Wake Forest team at home on January 31 and beat NC State on the road last week. Pitt also has the benefit of having been off this weekend after beating the Wolfkpack and therefore will play at UVa on six days rest.

Pitt has beaten Virginia a couple of times at home since joining the conference but has had no success at JPJ. The Panthers are 0-4 in Charlottesville since joining the ACC in 2013-14 and are just 2-12 overall against the Hoos in the last decade.

Pitt is No. 64 in KenPom ahead of Tuesday’s game, just two spots below where the Panthers started the season. The Panthers are top 100 nationally in both offense and defense but aren’t quite elite on either end of the floor.

They rank 79th nationally in offensive efficiency in part because they do a good job protecting the basketball, ranking 36th in turnover rate. They also can crash the glass successfully at times, ranking 75th in offensive rebound rate. Pitt’s shooting numbers are pedestrian; the Panthers make 33.9 percent of their 3s and 50.5 percent of their twos. They also shoot a lot of 3s, ranking 31st nationally in 3-point attempts per possession. Like Virginia, Pitt struggles at the line, making just 69.8 percent of its attempts.

Defensively, Pitt is 63rd nationally in efficiency. The Panthers do a good job on the glass, ranking 17th in offensive rebounds allowed. They also hold opponents to just 30.2 percent from deep, something that will be interesting to monitor against a UVa team that has shot pretty well at home of late. Pitt also ranks 10th nationally in block rate.

Blake Hinson, Forward

In large part, Pitt’s winning streak has been fueled by its best player. Hinson has scored 16 or more points in each of his last four games, and the Panthers have won three of them. He leads Pitt in scoring at 17.9 points and also hauls in 5 rebounds per contest. The 6-foot-8 senior has scored 20+ points on nine occasions this season and was second-team All-ACC last year.

Carlton Carrington, Guard

One of the league’s top newcomers, the freshman guard has been a big part of the plan for Pitt this year. The 6-foot-5 Baltimore native is second on the team in scoring at 13.6 points per game. He’s also doing a good job on the glass at 5.2 rebounds per game and dishes out 4.2 assists per contest as well. Carrington went for 24 points in Pitt’s recent win over Wake Forest, playing all 40 minutes.

Ishmael Leggett, Guard

A transfer from Rhode Island, Leggett has fit right in with the Panthers, scoring 12.1 points and grabbing 5.4 boards per game. A 6-foot-3 DC area native, Leggett has been a solid complementary player, joining Carrington in the backcourt. He went for 22 against Wake Forest but usually scores around the 10-14 point mark.

Jaland Lowe, Guard

Another freshman in the backcourt, Lowe joined the Panthers from Missouri City, Texas. He is averaging 8.2 points and 2.7 assists per contest, playing over 22 minutes per game. Lowe scored 20 points in 36 minutes last week in a win over NC State on the road, tying his career high previously set in a loss to Syracuse.

Pitt has done enough over the past few weeks to be taken seriously as a team that can hang with, or even beat, anyone in the league. And it’s easy to wonder if this might be the “real” Pitt finally showing through after a rough stretch to begin ACC play. The Panthers had a similar stretch in the back half of the league slate last year, winning eight of nine to earn their way into the NCAA Tournament.

UVa has played with fire in their last two road games but ultimately made enough plays to win. At home, the Wahoos have been more dominant, and if Pitt is going to break their winning streak at JPJ, they’ll probably have to play pretty well.

Perhaps the extra rest helps the Panthers, or maybe it breaks up their momentum a bit. Regardless, we feel good about Virginia’s chances at home to end Pitt’s shorter winning streak and run its own winning streak to nine games, further solidifying its standing in both the ACC race and the NCAA Tournament’s projected field.