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The Breakfast Buffet: Trey Kaufman-Renn broke out for Purdue, Collin Murray-Boyles, the Big East

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

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

Trey Kaufman-Renn broke out for Purdue against Alabama
It was only a matter of time. Matt Painter has felt for the past few seasons that the 6-9 Kaufman-Renn was an All-Big Ten caliber big man, but he hasn’t gotten the opportunity to truly be a focal point for the Boilers because of the presence of Zach Edey. Those days are no more. Kaufman-Renn scored a career-high 26 points to go with eight rebounds in Purdue’s 87-78 win over Alabama on Friday at Mackey Arena. Kaufman-Renn attempted 23 of the Boilers’ 63 shots in the game and truly flourished when he slid to center late in the game. The seasons change, but Painter’s ability to have quality big men in the pivot does not.

Collin Murray-Boyles introduces himself to America
Never heard of Murray-Boyles? You will after today. South Carolina’s trip to Indiana this afternoon presents the first power conference matchup for each of these two programs. It also provides a major platform for the 6-7 Murray-Boyles — who’s averaging 21.0 points and 10.7 rebounds through his first three games — to make a statement. People from the periphery will highlight Hoosiers sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako (24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds) — a former five-star prospect — as a player to watch entering this game and that’s for good reason. But a word to the wise: Don’t forget about Murray-Boyles. Mgbako isn’t the only sophomore playing in this game who looks like he’s on the verge of having a breakout season.

A big two days awaits the Big East
This league hasn’t had the most the productive start to the season as its lost several buy games and matchups against lower level opponents out of the gate. The Big East needs to its teams to start winning key non-conference games if it’s going to put a quality number of teams in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Marquette took a major step in that direction by winning at Maryland on Friday night and the league has multiple opportunities to build on that over the next 48 hours. Both Georgetown and Xavier will host ACC teams today as the Hoyas entertain Notre Dame and the Musketeers host Wake Forest at the Cintas Center. Meanwhile tomorrow, St. John’s will host New Mexico — who beat UCLA last week — at MSG. All three of these games are significant for the Big East’s bottom line, which last season only featured three teams — UConn, Creighton, and Marquette — as part of the NCAA Tournament.

On The Side

  • Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard has only committed two turnovers in 93 minutes played this season. That’s utterly ridiculous for a point guard. Nembhard’s assist-to-turnover ratio? A whopping 30:2.
  • John Tonje only averaged 2.8 points in eight games last season for Missouri due to injury. He scored 41 in Wisconsin’s win on Friday night over Arizona. Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball.
  • Bobby Hurley deserves credit for how he’s rallied Arizona State. The Sun Devils were blown out by Duke in a Charity Exhibition on Oct. 27th, but have since won neutral site games against both Santa Clara and Grand Canyon to go along with a very competitive showing at Gonzaga. Arizona State now looks like a team that will be competitive in the Big 12 this season.
  • There’s still room on the Kobe Sanders bandwagon if you want to jump on board! Nevada’s 6-9 point guard — who played last season at Cal Poly — is averaging 19.3 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds entering tonight’s game against Santa Clara in Reno. This guy will be a national name by Christmas — if not sooner.
  • San Francisco could have the WCC Freshman of the Year in back-to-back seasons. One year after Ryan Beasley won the award, the Dons have another terrific newcomer in 6-4 freshman Tyrone Riley (16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds). The Dons — who will host Chicago State today — are 3-0 and could be the WCC’s third-best team behind Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s.

Daily Specials

  • Wake Forest at Xavier
  • Notre Dame at Georgetown
  • South Carolina at Indiana
  • Colorado State/Ole Miss
  • Santa Clara at Nevada

Leftovers