The Southeast Region's top seed, Pittsburgh, will face play in winner North Carolina-Asheville tomorrow afternoon at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. The David versus Goliath matchup is scheduled to get underway at 3:10pm ET on truTV. College Basketball Lines have the Panthers listed as a -17.5 against the spread NCAA basketball predictions favorite; the game total is set at 135.
Pittsburgh, which lost just two of its first 26 games, did not play its best basketball down the stretch, but it did enough to 
garner a one seed nonetheless. The Panthers dropped three of their last six games, including their most recent outing, a Big East tournament quarterfinals loss to Connecticut.
Pittsburgh, which earned the top seed in the conference tournament after posting a 15-3 league record, fell 74-76 to the Huskies after Kemba Walker connected on a game winning buzz beater. The Panthers were statistically dominant in the game, shooting 55.1 percent from the field and 72.7 percent from long range (8-of-11), but UConn got off nine more field goal attempts and 11 more free throws than Jamie Dixon's squad.
Junior guard Ashton Gibbs, the Panthers leading scorer at 16.7 per game, dropped in 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the Connecticut loss.
Pittsburgh, despite its perennially high seeding, has not lived up to NCAA Tournament expectations under Dixon. The Panthers have performed well on occasion (reached the Sweet 16 twice and Elite Eight once), but they have exited the tournament before the regional semifinal in four of their seven Big Dance appearances with Dixon as their head coach.
North Carolina-Asheville extended its win streak to seven games on Tuesday night with a dramatic 81-77 overtime win against Arkansas-Little Rock. The play in victory over the Trojans saw Matt Dickey and J.P. Grimm combine for 44 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.
The Bulldogs, now 20-13 overall, have faced a number of high calibur teams this season, including North Carolina, Georgetown, and Ohio State. They did not fare well in those contests, though, losing by an average of 24.3 points per game.
North Carolina-Asheville vs Pittsburgh 2011 NCAA Bracket Picks:
UNC-Asheville Bulldogs +17.5 (-110), Over 135 (-110)
Pittsburgh Panthers -17.5 (-110), Under 135 (-110)
