Pittsburgh (9-5, 5-4) at No. 14 Virginia (12-3, 8-1)

4 p.m., ESPN

In another last-minute schedule change, UVa’s matchup against Louisville that was scheduled for tomorrow was scrapped earlier this week after the Cardinals had a positive COVID-19 test. Instead, the ACC will send the Pitt Panthers to Charlottesville to take on the league leaders at John Paul Jones Arena.

Pitt arrives in Charlottesville having marginally exceeded preseason expectations. Yet, just a few weeks ago, it looked like the Panthers would finish well above what was expected of them. On January 23rd, they was 8-2 and 4-1 in ACC play, looking to move closer to first place with a win against a Wake Forest team yet to win a conference game. Pitt fell behind and its rally came up short, and that loss was the first of three straight that sent the program from the top of the ACC standings to the middle. But the Panthers did turn things around earlier this week, when they snapped that losing skid with a 83-72 upset win over No. 16 Virginia Tech.

Pitt is still evolving as a program in the third year under head coach Jeff Capel. The former Duke assistant has added a good deal of talent to the roster, and while the Panthers are far from a finished product, the improvement is obvious. It’s worth remember that they are just three years removed from an 0-18 ACC mark, and in Capel’s first year, the Panthers went 3-15 in league play.

Pitt ranks 76th in KenPom and is below average on both ends of the floor by ACC standards. On offense, the Panthers rank 84th in efficiency, and play at a relatively fast pace. Simply put, they aren’t a great shooting team. They are making just 32.6 percent of their 3-point tries and just 48.1 percent on attempted two’s. Pitt does a nice job on the offensive glass and ranks 15th nationally in assists per made field goal, but the number of allow blocked shots is at an alarmingly-high rate.

In addition to struggling to shoot from the field, the Panthers only shoot 67.5 percent from the line, which is not great considering they get 20.3 percent of their points from the charity stripe.

On defense, Pitt ranks 82nd nationally in efficiency. It greatest strength is its 3-point defense, which limits opponents to just 30.2 percent of those attempts. Pitt does a good job blocking shots but don’t force turnovers overall.

However, many of its turnovers forced are live-ball takeaways which is good for transition opportunities. Opponents have a balanced offensive output, with 32.5 percent of points allowed on made 3s and just over 50 percent on two-pointers. Pitt’s defense isn’t terrible in any one area, but they don’t dominate in any facet either.

Pitt’s attack is led by the league’s top scorer, sophomore forward Justin Champagnie. The 6-foot-6 Brooklyn native can score from anywhere on the floor and is a matchup problem for any team that Pitt faces. Champagnie shoots 37.5 percent from deep and puts up 19.3 points per game while pulling down an ACC-high 12.2 rebounds per contest. He is consistently in double-figures scoring and has recorded a double-double, including a 31-point, 14-rebound effort against Duke, in eight of his last 10 games.

Virginia has struggled at times to defend bigger, athletic wings or big men capable of stepping out and shooting. Champagnie is another player in that mold, so how much UVa allows him to do on Saturday could determine the outcome.

After Champagnie, Pittsburgh has a pair of talented guards who have continued to improve throughout their careers. Point guard Xavier Johnson was impressive as a freshman and now as a junior is one of the top distributors in the conference. He is third on the team in scoring with 14.5 points per game and averages an ACC-best 6.1 assists per game as well. He is joined in the backcourt by combo guard Au’diese Toney, another capable scorer. Toney is just ahead of Johnson in scoring at 14.6 points per game, in addition to his six rebounds per contest. Neither Johnson nor Toney are great 3-point shooters but do an excellent job on drives to the basket.