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The Breakfast Buffet: Posh Alexander returns to St. John’s, Hunter Sallis, New Mexico visits Colorado State

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

Posh Alexander returns to St. John’s
The 6-foot Alexander spent the first three years of his college career with the Red Storm under Mike Anderson, but opted to play for Butler after a coaching change at the conclusion of last season. He’s found a home with the Bulldogs, who are 10-3 in their second year under Thad Matta. Alexander enters tonight’s game in Queens averaging career-highs in points (10.7), assists (5.2), rebounds (4.5), and steals (2.1). Both St. John’s and Butler are 1-1 in Big East play.

Hunter Sallis is thriving at Wake Forest
There’s several reasons why I’m bullish on the Demon Deacons as the sleeper team in the ACC, but one of the primary ones is Sallis. After two lean years at Gonzaga, Sallis has found a home under Steve Forbes in Winston-Salem, where he’s quickly separating himself as one of the best guards in the conference. The 6-5 guard is averaging 18.2 points and 3.3 rebounds entering tonight’s game at Boston College — Sallis never averaged more than 4.5 points during the first two seasons of his college career in Spokane. The Demon Deacons are 9-3 and have won seven straight games.

New Mexico visits Colorado State
The next two months in the Mountain West are going to be glorious and tonight’s matchup in Fort Collins is a perfect way to get things started. The Lobos have dealt with nagging injuries to multiple players to start the season, but should finally be healthy when they play the Rams. This game presents a terrific matchup between Colorado State’s All-American point guard Isaiah Stevens (17.3 points, 7.3 assists) and New Mexico’s perimeter troika of Donovan Dent (16.8 points, 6.2 assists), Jamal Mashburn Jr. (18.0 points), and Jaelen House (15.3 points, four assists, 2.8 steals). This may very well wind up being the game of the night in college basketball.

On The Side

  • Two of Syracuse’s next three games are on the road against Duke and North Carolina, starting with tonight’s matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
  • Creighton’s Steven Ashworth is just 7-31 from the field and 5-26 from three-point range in his last five games. The Bluejays will visit Georgetown tonight in Washington D.C. Tip off is at 7 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.
  • Add Utah’s Branden Carlson to the list of off-the-radar players who are currently playing at an All-American level. The fifth-year senior is currently averaging 18.4 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting a career-high 40 percent from three-point range. The Utes are 11-2 in their third season under Craig Smith and look primed to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016
  • Illinois’ game tonight against Northwestern in Champaign is its first Big Ten tilt without All-American wing Terrence Shannon Jr. (21.7 points, 4.5 rebounds), who was arrested last week for rape. The Wildcats are quietly off to a 10-2 start and the only team this season that’s beaten Purdue.
  • USC is officially the biggest disappointment in college basketball. The 6-7 Trojans are 0-2 in Pac-12 play and lost by 16 on Saturday night at Oregon State.

Daily Specials

  • Purdue at Maryland
  • North Carolina at Pitt
  • Northwestern at Illinois
  • Syracuse at Duke
  • New Mexico at Colorado State

Leftovers