ACC Tournament: Pittsburgh v. Wake Forest

Who will WIN this matchup?

Pittsburgh Panthers (15-16)

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (13-17)

Current odds:

Pittsburgh Panthers: (-125)

Wake Forest Demon Deacons: (+105)

• The line for this game is Pittsburgh by 1.5 points.

• With rumors swirling about the future of Wake Forest coach Danny Manning, the 12th-seeded Demon Deacons meet No. 13 Pitt on Tuesday in the ACC Tournament at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum. There was a report posted last week that Manning, who has won one ACC Tournament game in his first five seasons and is 6-49 in ACC road games during his tenure, is negotiating a buyout of his contract that runs through 2024-25. Although Manning or his players would acknowledge it, the speculation seemed to affect the Demon Deacons, who showed no energy in Friday’s 84-64 loss at North Carolina State. “We don’t pay attention to that, so we knew that Coach Manning would never do that, so he’s here for us,” guard Chaundee Brown said. “He loves coaching all of us, so we weren’t worried about that.”

• The Panthers opened the season with a win over eventual ACC regular-season champion Florida State in November but finished it losing 10 of their final 12 games, including the last seven. In the only meeting between the teams this season, Wake Forest overcame an early double-digit deficit on January 4 for a 69-65 victory in its only meeting against the Panthers this season – its fourth straight win in the series.

• The Panthers fell behind early on Wednesday at Georgia Tech and suffered a 73-57 defeat despite team-high totals of 12 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench from Eric Hamilton. Justin Champagnie (team-leading totals of 12.2 points and 7.2 rebounds) scored 11 points, but the freshman along with Xavier Johnson (11.6 points, 4.9 assists) and Trey McGowens (11.4 points, 1.9 steals) combined to shoot 5-of-20 as Pitt shot 31 percent. Ryan Murphy (8.0 points, team-high 42 3-pointers) scored 18 points and drained 4-of-6 beyond the arc in the first game with the Demon Deacons while McGowens added 12 and Johnson and Champagnie contributing 11.

• Manning hasn’t been able to establish an identity, as the Demon Deacons rank last in defensive rating (107.5 points per 100 possessions), forcing turnovers (14.2 percent of possessions) and blocks (6.3 percent of possessions) in ACC play. Junior center Olivier Sarr (13.5 points, 8.9 rebounds) was named third-team All-ACC, while senior guard Brandon Childress (15.5 points, 4.6 assists) was named honorable mention. Freshman Ismael Massoud (5.0 points) led Wake Forest in the first game with Pitt scoring 14 points on 3-of-6 from 3-point range in 16 minutes, while fellow reserve Torry Johnson (5.6 points) added 12 points in 25 minutes.

• In ACC play, the Panthers ranked last in 2-point shooting (42.5), second-to-last in 3-point shooting (30.3) and last in defensive rebound percentage (66.4) but forced the most turnovers (22.2 percent of possessions).

• Champagnie ranks seventh among ACC freshmen in scoring, third in rebounding and fourth in double-figure scoring games (22). He is attempting to become the first Pitt freshman to lead the team in points and rebounds since Charles Smith accomplished that feat during the 1985-86 season.

• Manning was hoping to put together a strong season to solidify his status on the bench, but it was a disappointing season other than wins over fellow Tobacco Road rivals Duke and North Carolina.