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The Breakfast Buffet: Donovan Clingan against Hunter Dickinson, Xavier aims to bounce back, RJ Luis

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Donovan Clingan against Hunter Dickinson
It’s not the mid 1990s, but we’ve got an old school showdown among big men tonight as UConn visits Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse as part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle. Both Clingan and Dickinson are candidates to be All-Americans. The 7-3 Clingan is averaging 15 points, six rebounds, and 1.9 blocks in only 19.3 minutes; his usage will go up as the Huskies start playing higher level competition with more regularity. The 7-2 Dickinson meanwhile, has been terrific for Kansas after transferring from Michigan and enters tonight’s game averaging 21.7 points and 10 rebounds in 30.1 minutes. This individual matchup highlights what is arguably the most highly anticipated non-conference game of the 2023-24 college basketball season.

Xavier aims to bounce back against Houston
You can’t control what happens to you life, but you can control how you respond. That’s what the Musketeers will attempt to do tonight at the Cintas Center against Houston after losing a buy game on Monday to Oakland. It will not be easy. Xavier’s roster is loaded with inexperience after losing both Zach Freemantle (foot) and Jerome Hunter (medical condition) to a pair of season-ending injuries. The Cougars meanwhile, prey on the weak and vulnerable. Kelvin Sampson’s team is only allowing an average of 49 points against its first seven opponents this season. Keep an eye on Baylor transfer LJ Cryer, who’s averaging 19 points in Houston’s last five games.

RJ Luis and St. John’s visit West Virginia
Six games into Rick Pitino’s tenure at St. John’s, the 6-7 Luis may be the Red Storm’s most compelling prospect. A transfer from UMass, Luis scored 14 points and had four rebounds in 16 minutes in his season debut last weekend against Holy Cross after he missed the first five games of the year due to a hand injury. The competition level will be raised tonight as St. John’s visits West Virginia as part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle. Luis’ evolution will play a major role in whether or not the Red Storm can reach the NCAA Tournament in their first season under Pitino. He averaged 11.5 points and 4.6 rebounds a year ago during his one season at UMass.

On The Side

  • Purdue’s Zach Edey is averaging a career-high 2.9 blocks. The 7-4 big man averaged 2.1 blocks last season. The Boilers are 7-0 entering tonight’s Big Ten opener in Evanston against Northwestern.
  • Isaiah Stevens (17.9 points, 8.3 assists) is having the type of season for Colorado State that Souley Boum had last year for Xavier. As of today, this is the second-best point guard in college basketball behind Marquette’s Tyler Kolek. The Rams are 7-0 and will next face Washington on Saturday in Las Vegas (7 PM ET, CBS Sports Network).
  • Auburn currently has 10 different players averaging between 15.3 minutes and 23.3 minutes. The Tigers — who have won five straight since opening the season with a loss to Baylor — should stay extremely fresh throughout the course of the season with this type of depth.
  • Maryland freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith is shooting just 1-19 from three-point range entering tonight’s Big Ten opener against Indiana in Bloomington.
  • Nevada is 5-0 and won’t play a true road game until Dec. 17th at Hawaii, which will precede three games for the Wolf Pack in the Diamond Head Classic.

Daily Specials

  • Houston at Xavier
  • Maryland at Indiana
  • St. John’s at West Virginia
  • UConn at Kansas
  • Purdue at Northwestern

Leftovers