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The Breakfast Buffet: Ryan Kalkbrenner, Gonzaga, Seton Hall/Villanova

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

Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of college basketball’s least celebrated stars
Can you really be underrated if you’ve been the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons? Quite possibly. The 7-1 Kalkbrenner had 28 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks in Saturday’s 78-71 win at Xavier, but still doesn’t get regularly mentioned with guys like Purdue’s Zach Edey, Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II, and Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson when people discuss the best big men in the sport. He should be. The unique part of Kalkbrenner’s game? You can’t truly measure what he does simply by looking at the box score. An underrated screener and sealer on offense, Kalkbrenner regularly helps create scoring opportunities for both he and his teammates. And on defense, he’s among the elite of the elite. Blessed with incredible discipline, Kalkbrenner has an uncanny ability to defend without fouling and regularly forces the opponent to take low percentage shots. It’s not the shots that he blocks that make the entire difference — it’s the shots that he alters. Kalkbrenner is quietly playing like an All-American.

Gonzaga again has a path to an at-large bid
The Bulldogs picked up their first Quad 1 win of the season on Saturday at Rupp Arena and have two more Quad 1 opportunities prior to the NCAA Tournament. That wasn’t always believed to be the case. In addition to its game at Saint Mary’s in Moraga on March 2nd, Gonzaga’s game a few days earlier against San Francisco at the Chase Center will also count as a Quad 1 opportunity, an NCAA official confirmed to College Hoops Today on Saturday. This is a bit of a surprise considering that the NCAA is counting the Dons’ game against Minnesota earlier this season at the Chase Center as a neutral site game. The rationale for this, according to the NCAA, is that a third party organized the game against Minnesota while San Francisco’s matchup with Gonzaga is a WCC conference game. If you feel lost on this, don’t feel alarmed — I am too! Nevertheless, the Bulldogs still have some runway to build an at-large case prior to the WCC Tournament. This is ONLY February.

Seton Hall visits Villanova
A Quad 1 opportunity for the Pirates. A chance for the Wildcats to get back on track despite their 12-11 record. This is life on the bubble. Seton Hall enters today’s game at the Wells Fargo Center with four Quad 1 wins and a fifth would go a long way in this team’s hopes to make the NCAA Tournament. Villanova meanwhile, desperately needs to get Justin Moore to return to peak form as the Wildcats’ fifth-year guard is averaging just 6.7 points in the seven games that he’s played since returning from a mid-season knee injury. Tip off is at Noon ET on CBS Sports Network.

On The Side

  • Kentucky has lost three straight games at Rupp Arena for the first time ever and is allowing an average of 95.5 points in its last four home games.
  • Armando Bacot is back to playing like Armando Bacot. North Carolina’s veteran big man has posted three straight double-doubles and is averaging 19.7 points and 12.7 rebounds in his last three games.
  • Nebraska is 15-1 at home this season and 1-7 on the road.
  • Florida Atlantic had four losses last season. It already has five in 2023-24 entering today’s game at Wichita State.
  • Jeremiah Williams looks like a difference maker for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are 3-0 since the 6-4 wing — who previously played at Temple — was ruled eligible by the NCAA. In three games, Williams is averaging 14 points, 5.3 rebounds, and three assists. Don’t discount Steve Pikiell’s team from having a big February.

Daily Specials

  • Florida Atlantic at Wichita State
  • Seton Hall at Villanova
  • Penn State at Northwestern
  • Tulane at Memphis
  • Minnesota at Iowa

Leftovers