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The Breakfast Buffet: Blake Hinson, UConn visits Creighton, Jaedon LeDee/Great Osobor

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

Blake Hinson is playing like an All-American
He’s also pushed Pitt into the bubble picture. The 6-8 Hinson — who was an integral part of last season’s team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament — is averaging 34 points in his last two games and is 14-26 from three-point range during that span. During the Panthers’ current five-game winning streak, Hinson is averaging 23.6 points. Pitt will take a 17-8 record into tonight’s game at Wake Forest, which is one of two Quad 1 opportunities that the Panthers have remaining during the regular season. Jeff Capel’s team will also visit Clemson on Feb. 27th.

UConn visits Creighton
The Huskies’ average margin of victory during Big East play is 15.7 points. They’ve won their last three games by an average of 29.7 points, highlighted by a 28-point rout of Marquette on Saturday in Hartford. Tonight’s task will be much more difficult. The Bluejays enter this evening’s game in Omaha on a three-game winning streak and are playing some of their best basketball of the season. Keep a close eye on the matchup in the middle between UConn’s Donovan Clingan (12.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.2 blocks) and Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner (17.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.7 blocks). The Bluejays are 11-2 at home this season.

Jaedon LeDee versus Great Osobor
The two best front court players in the Mountain West go head-to-head tonight in Logan as San Diego State visits Utah State. The winner will be in sole possession of first place in the conference. Both LeDee (20.4 points, 8.2 rebounds) and Osobor (17.8 points, 9.2 rebounds) are among the top-three in the Mountain West in both points and rebounds. While LeDee’s emergence as a go-to scorer for the Aztecs has been well documented, Osobor’s story is still somewhat in the shadows. After playing for Danny Sprinkle at Montana State, the 6-8 big man opted to follow his coach to Utah State. The results have been incredible. Osobor is a dark horse candidate to be an All-American, especially if the Aggies wind up winning an outright Mountain West regular season title for the first time in program history. Tip off for tonight’s game is at 9 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.

On The Side

  • Shaka Smart said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast that this is the best UConn team that Marquette has played since he’s been in the Big East. The Huskies beat the Golden Eagles 81-53 on Saturday in Hartford. “”The thing that makes them great is there is zero entitlement with their team,” Smart said of UConn. “No one cares who scores. No one cares who gets the credit.”
  • Northwestern’s Ryan Langborg is averaging 14 points and is 7-12 from three-point range in the three games that the Wildcats have played since losing Ty Berry to a season-ending knee injury.
  • Chris Gerlufsen has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons at San Francisco. The Dons will take a 21-6 record into tonight’s game against Saint Mary’s in Moraga.
  • I’ve yet to see a player this season who’s faster in the open court than Utah’s Deivon Smith. The 6-foot point guard is averaging 15.4 points and nine assists in his last five games.
  • Georgetown’s average margin of defeat during Big East play is 16.2 points.

Daily Specials

  • Butler at Villanova
  • UConn at Creighton
  • Baylor at BYU
  • Pitt at Wake Forest
  • San Diego State at Utah State

Leftovers