College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: Kansas/Iowa State, Jaxson Robinson, Mike White

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

Kansas/Iowa State
Bill Self has an all-time record of 14-6 against the Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum, but there’s a strong chance that none of those Iowa State teams over the last two decades are as good as this current rendition. T.J. Otzelberger’s squad enters tonight’s matchup with the Jayhawks at 14-1, with its only defeat coming by two points against Auburn in the Maui Invitational. The Cyclones enter tonight’s game with six different players — Curtis Jones, Keshon Gilbert, Joshua Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic, and Dishon Jackson — averaging 9.5 points or more. Kansas meanwhile, has been a different team since Self inserted Mississippi State transfer Shakeel Moore into the starting lineup. With Moore as a starter, the Jayhawks are 3-0 and holding their opponents to an average of 47.8 points. This is the game of the night in college hoops.

Jaxson Robinson is starting to emerge for Kentucky
Last season’s Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year when he was at BYU, Robinson is finally started to display the form that many expected he would after flirted with the NBA Draft last spring. The 6-6 wing has scored a combined 49 points in his last two games and is an impressive 17-27 from the field and 12-23 from three-point range during that span. It’s the first time this season that Robinson has scored 20 or more points in back-to-back outings. The Wildcats’ formula under Mark Pope has been predicated on unselfishness and balance, but Robinson could eventually emerge as Kentucky’s go-to scorer. The Wildcats improved to 14-3 after Tuesday night’s win over Texas A&M at Rupp Arena.

Mike White deserves credit for the job he’s doing at Georgia
Back-to-back games against Tennessee and Auburn this week loom for the Bulldogs, but they’ve already turned a major corner in 2024-25 under White, who ultimately may be one of the sport’s least appreciated coaches. From 2017-2021, White — who was then at Florida — was the only one head coach in the SEC to win at least one game in the NCAA Tournament. Now in his third season at Georgia, the 47-year old head coach has made the Bulldogs nationally relevant as they’ve already tallied wins this season over St. John’s, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. Georgia was ranked 23rd in this week’s ROTHSTEIN 45. I thought prior to this season that the Bulldogs could be a bubble team. So far, they’ve much better. The journey continues tonight for White and Georgia, who will take a 14-2 record into Knoxville against Tennessee.

On The Side

  • Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad (12.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists) is 12-16 from three-point range in his last three games.
  • UCLA is allowing 78.0 points during its current four-game losing streak. Remember: The Bruins held Gonzaga to just 62 points in a three-point win on Dec. 28th. This isn’t the same defensive team that we saw last month. 
  • Is Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears hitting a freshman wall? The talented guard is only averaging 10.3 points in three SEC games while shooting just 29.4 percent from the field and 16.6 percent from three-point range during that span. The Sooners are 0-3 in league play and will next host Texas tonight in Norman.
  • Cincinnati is averaging 58 points in Big 12 play entering tonight’s game against Colorado in Boulder. Both teams have yet to win a game in Big 12 play.
  • Utah State is assisting on 62.8 percent of its made field goals and shooting 49.6 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from three-point range as a team. Those are beautiful offensive numbers. The Aggies are 16-1 and will next face UNLV tonight in Las Vegas. Tip off is at 11 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.

Daily Specials

  • Kansas at Iowa State
  • Penn State at Michigan State
  • Georgia at Tennessee
  • West Virginia at Houston
  • Purdue at Washington

Leftovers