The Pittsburgh Panthers face UConn on Thursday at MSG , trying to cement its status as a No. 1 March Madness seed.

And they do so against a team they have beaten four straight and dominated against the spread, going 6-1 ATS past 7 meetings. However, the Huskies are toough and bring one of the nation's best players - Kemba Walker - to the show.

This season, the Panthers are 27-4 overall and 14-11 ATS ATS, while the Huskies are 23-9 and 15-11 ATS against the number. Pitt would win and cover the spread (which opened around -4.5 at Sportsbook this morning)..



View Connecticut vs Pittsburgh Odds and Stats.

Power Rankings / Prediction:
This game matches up the No. 3 (Panthers) and the No. 16 (Huskies) teams in the league, according to our current NCAAB power rank. A 82-76 result in favor of the Panthers has been projected by the scores prediction engine.



How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Pittsburgh's No. 51 nationally ranked offense (74.1 points per game) against a Huskies defense that sits as the No. 117 at 66 PPG. The Panthers have been averaging 47.2% from the field, more than the Huskies have managed so far this season (43.5% on average).

Comparing how these foes stack up statistically, Connecticut owns the country's No. 141-rated mark, allowing 69.3 points per game on the highway. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, rates No. 72 in scoring at home.

Connecticut was a 79-62 Sportsbook in its last match against Georgetown. They covered the 3–point spread as favorites.

Pittsburgh won its last outing, a 60-50 result against Villanova on March 5. They covered in that game as a 9.5-point favorite. Pittsburgh got 18 points from Ashton Gibbs en route to a 60-50 victory over Villanova on Saturday at Petersen Events Center.

Connecticut Huskies Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 6-4
After playing Georgetown are 3-7
After a win are 6-4

Pittsburgh Panthers Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 8-2
After playing Villanova are 5-5
After a win are 7-3

A few Huskies at Panthers trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games
Pittsburgh is 17-3 SU in its last 20 games
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Connecticut
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games when playing Connecticut