College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: R.J. Davis, Lance Jones, Kentucky visits South Carolina

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

R.J. Davis looks like the best guard in the country
The last time that North Carolina had a guard who was a first-team All-American? Joseph Forte during the 2000-01 season. The Tar Heels have won three national titles since, but they haven’t had a guard in the last 22 years that’s on the same trajectory as Davis. The 6-foot senior had a career-high 36 points in Monday night’s win over Wake Forest and is averaging 21 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. Right now, there’s not a better guard in the sport. The only guards from North Carolina’s program who were second or third team All-Americans since 2001 are Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Ty Lawson, and Kendall Marshall.

Lance Jones is playing great basketball for Purdue
Matt Painter went out and got Jones —- who was previously at Southern Illinois —- out of the transfer portal because he felt like the Boilers needed to improve their overall quickness and athleticism on the perimeter. Jones is also providing plenty of offense. The 6-1 guard has scored 17 points in back-to-back games and is averaging 15 points over his last five tilts. Jones is also shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range during that span. This guy is no longer playing like an ancillary piece to Purdue’s attack — he’s playing like he could be a potential difference maker in this program’s quest to get to its first Final Four since 1980. The Boilers host Michigan tonight in West Lafayette.

Kentucky visits South Carolina
Lamont Paris has the Gamecocks at 15-3 and is a prime candidate to be SEC Coach of the Year in just his second season in the conference. Whether or not he can lead his team to a win tonight at home against the Wildcats — a team that may have college basketball’s highest ceiling — remains to be seen. While there were many questions surrounding Kentucky’s youth entering this season, this group now resembles a unit that is loaded with answers. Its offense isn’t bad either. Since losing to UNC Wilmington on Dec. 2nd, Kentucky is averaging 91.4 points. South Carolina averages just 72.9 points and has just two players — Meechie Johnson and B.J. Mack — who average in double figures. Expect a contrast of styles tonight in Columbia.

On The Side

  • Is Creighton about to go on a run? The Bluejays have four of their next six games at home, starting with tonight’s matchup against Xavier. Greg McDermott’s team has won four of its last five, with the only loss during that span coming at UConn.
  • Utah’s Deivon Smith is on the verge of becoming a star in the Pac-12. After previously playing at both Georgia Tech and Mississippi State, Smith has found a home in Salt Lake City. He’s averaging 18.8 points, 9.8 assists, and 6.8 rebounds in his last four games.
  • Ohio State’s next three games — at Nebraska (tonight), at Northwestern (Saturday), and a home tilt against Illinois on Jan. 30th — will all be Quad 1 opportunities. As of today, the Buckeyes only possess one Quad 1 win on their resume. This is a critical stretch for Chris Holtmann’s team.
  • West Virginia’s Josh Eilert told College Hoops Today on Monday that Jesse Edwards (wrist) will return “soon”, but his status for tonight’s game against UCF is TBD. A transfer from Syracuse, the 6-11 Edwards averaged 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds prior to injury. He hasn’t played since Dec. 16th.
  • Dayton’s Javon Bennett only has 20 turnovers this season in 501 total minutes played. That’s an average of just one turnover every 25 minutes. A transfer from Merrimack, the 5-10 Bennett has had a major hand in the Flyers’ 15-2 start.

Daily Specials

  • Kentucky at South Carolina
  • Wisconsin at Minnesota
  • Texas at Oklahoma
  • Xavier at Creighton
  • Houston at BYU

Leftovers