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The Breakfast Buffet: Aaron Bradshaw, Purdue’s guards, USC visits Auburn

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

Aaron Bradshaw completely changes Kentucky
Saturday’s win over North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic was the first time this season that Bradshaw played against a power conference opponent. He looked the part. The 7-foot freshman only logged 21 minutes against the Tar Heels, but finished with 12 points and three rebounds all while giving Kentucky a different dynamic than it had when he was out of the lineup with a foot injury. Bradshaw’s presence allows John Calipari to play bigger with he and Tre Mitchell or smaller with one of them in the game alongside four guards. The Wildcats showed great promise without Bradshaw. With him? They’re one of the best teams in the country.

Purdue’s guards reiterate that they’ve made a major jump
Al McGuire once said that “the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores”. Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer reiterated that sentiment on Saturday against Arizona. One of the things that probably didn’t get enough attention when Purdue lost to FDU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March was that it started two first-year guards in Smith and Loyer. Their performance in Saturday’s win over Arizona is evidence on how far they’ve evolved since. The duo combined for 53 points against the Wildcats while shooting 20-33 from the field and 9-16 from three-point range. If Smith and Loyer can provide even half of that moving forward alongside Zach Edey, the Boilers are going to be one tough out.

USC vists Auburn
The Trojans enter today’s game at 5-4 and are quietly one of the bigger disappointments in college basketball. USC entered this season with the expectation of potentially being the Pac-12’s top challenger to Arizona, but a pair of buy game losses to UC Irvine and Long Beach State have gotten this team off-track. Talented freshman point guard Isaiah Collier may be projected as one of the top picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, but he enters today’s game with 38 assists and 40 turnovers. He’ll need to be at his best in a raucous atmosphere on the road. Auburn has won 33 of its last 35 home games at Neville Arena.

On The Side

  • Kansas is 27-1 over the past four years in games where Dajuan Harris scores in double figures. The one loss? A one-point defeat to Arkansas in last season’s NCAA Tournament when Bill Self was unavailable to coach due to health issues.
  • Michigan State made a major statement by beating Baylor by 24 on Saturday, but this team still has potential speed bumps before it begins the guts of Big Ten play in January. The Spartans will host Oakland — who won at Xavier a few weeks ago — on Monday as well as upstart Indiana State on Dec. 30th.
  • UCLA is 0-4 this season against the three power conference opponents — Marquette, Villanova, and Ohio State — that it’s played and Gonzaga, losing each game by an average of just 5.5 points.
  • Texas’ entire complexion moving forward feels different with a healthy Dylan Disu, who had 17 points in his season debut on Saturday against LSU. The 6-9 Disu averaged 22.5 points and 10 rebounds in two NCAA Tournament games last March prior to a foot injury.
  • Tulane’s Kevin Cross posted back-to-back triple-doubles this week in a pair of wins against Furman and Southern.

Daily Specials

  • Colgate at Illinois
  • USC at Auburn
  • Oregon/Syracuse (Sioux Falls)
  • Nebraska at Kansas State
  • North Texas at Mississippi State (Tupelo)

Leftovers