College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Duke/Michigan State, Iowa State may get Tamin Lipsey back against Purdue, Nate Ament

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

Duke/Michigan State
A battle of blue blood programs in an on-campus setting? Sounds delicious. The Blue Devils haven’t traveled to East Lansing since Dec. 3rd, 2019 and this trip will be highlighted by National Player of the Year favorite Cameron Boozer, who’s averaging 32.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in back-to-back wins over Arkansas and Florida. The Spartans already own wins this season over Arkansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina, but they’ve yet to face a talent like Boozer or a team that’s as connected defensively as Duke. We’ll learn a lot more about both of these undefeated teams after today’s tilt at the Breslin Center.

Iowa State may get Tamin Lipsey back against Purdue
A source told College Hoops Today on Friday that Lipsey — who has not played since Nov. 24th due to a lower body injury — returned to practice on Friday and will be re-evaluated again on Saturday morning to determine his availability against the Boilers. He is now officially being listed as a “game-time decision”. The 6-1 point guard is averaging 18.4 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.6 rebounds this season. Today’s matchup at Mackey Arena is a battle of two undefeated teams and has an Elite Eight type of feel. Tip off is at Noon ET on CBS.

Tennessee needs Nate Ament back on track
The five-star freshman is just 8-33 from the field and 3-12 from the field in his last three games. The Vols can’t be one of the best teams in the SEC unless Ament plays at a much higher level. The 6-10 forward has gifts from God physically, but is still obviously getting adjusted to the highest level of college basketball. Rick Barnes’ squad will take a two-game losing stream into tonight’s game against Illinois in Nashville. This is the third straight season that Tennessee and Illinois have played each other in non-conference play.

On The Side

  • Kentucky is a combined 8-37 from three-point range in its last two games and has just 20 assists to 18 turnovers during that span. The honeymoon is officially over for Mark Pope.
  • Bill Self told reporters that Kansas’ Darryn Peterson (hamstring) is expected to be available for Sunday’s game against Missouri in Kansas City. The 6-6 Peterson has not played since Nov. 7th and averages 21.5 points.
  • North Carolina’s Seth Trimble (wrist) has no set timetable for a return, but is hopeful to return prior to the start of ACC play, a school spokesman told College Hoops Today on Friday. The 6-6 Trimble has not played since Nov. 7th and averages 14.5 points and 5.0 rebounds. The Tar Heels begin conference play on Dec. 30th against Florida State in Chapel Hill.
  • Six of Michigan’s next eight games are in Ann Arbor, starting with today’s tilt against Rutgers. The two road games during that span? At Maryland and at Penn State. It could be a long time before Dusty May’s squad loses a game.
  • St. John’s is giving up an average of 88.0 points against power conference opponents entering tonight’s game with Ole Miss at MSG.

Daily Specials

  • Michigan State at Duke
  • Iowa State at Purdue
  • Louisville/Indiana
  • Illinois/Tennessee
  • Auburn at Arizona

Leftovers