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The Breakfast Buffet: Max Abmas, Ta’lon Cooper, St. John’s

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

Going to a power conference hasn’t inhibited Max Abmas
Texas’ leading scorer averaged 21.9 points or more in each of the past three seasons at Oral Roberts prior to making the decision to transfer to Austin. Often in college basketball, we’ll see players struggle to have the same type of production level when they go from a mid-major conference to a power conference. That hasn’t been the case with Abmas. The 6-foot guard is averaging 17.9 points — only four points less than he did last season — entering tonight’s game in Austin against Iowa State. Abmas is also averaging a career-high 4.2 assists while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from three-point range. He’s a primary reason why Texas is in quality shape to return to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season under Rodney Terry.

Ta’lon Cooper has taken South Carolina to a different level
There’s many reasons why the Gamecocks have become the biggest surprise in college basketball, but Cooper may be the biggest. After spending the first four years of his career at both Morehead State and Minnesota, the fifth-year point guard has found a home at South Carolina. He’s also stabilized things at the most important position on the floor. Entering tonight’s game against Ole Miss in Columbia, Cooper has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.5:1. He’s also only averaging one turnover every 27.2 minutes along with 10.4 points and 4.4 rebounds. This guy has had a major hand Gamecocks’ 19-3 start.

St. John’s needs a strong finish
Four of the Red Storm’s final nine games are against DePaul and Georgetown, starting with tonight’s clash with the Blue Demons at UBS Arena, but if St. John’s is going to cement its place in the NCAA Tournament it’s going to have to beat some of the better remaining teams on its schedule. Rick Pitino’s team is currently 13-9 overall and 43rd in the NET, but is also just 2-7 against Quad 1 opponents. After tonight’s game against DePaul, the Red Storm will play back-to-back road games at Marquette and Providence. A home matchup with Creighton is also on the schedule as well as a showdown against Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse. St. John’s is going to have to win some of these games if it wants to avoid pressure to play its way into March Madness during the Big East Tournament.

On The Side

  • Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler is quietly in an incredible rhythm. In addition to his 26-point, 13-assist performance in Tennessee’s win at Kentucky on Saturday, Zeigler has also handed out 28 assists to just seven turnovers in his last four games.
  • From 2011-16, Grant McCasland served as an assistant coach on Scott Drew’s staff at Baylor. Tonight, McCasland returns to Waco as the head coach of Texas Tech. America!
  • This is quietly a big week for Clemson. The Tigers will play back-to-back road games at North Carolina and Syracuse, starting with tonight’s trip to face the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. Brad Brownell’s team is just 3-6 in its last nine games after an 11-1 start.
  • Is there a better rebounding guard in the country than Illinois’ Ty Rodgers? The 6-6 bruiser has 24 boards in his last two games. Rodgers has had seven games this season with seven or more rebounds.
  • It may be time to take the interim tag off Charlotte’s Aaron Fearne. The 49ers are 14-7 overall and tied for first place in the AAC with both Florida Atlantic and South Florida.

Daily Specials

  • Ole Miss at South Carolina
  • Clemson at North Carolina
  • Butler at UConn
  • Iowa State at Texas
  • Texas Tech at Baylor

Leftovers