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The Breakfast Buffet: Purdue visits Pinnacle Bank Arena, Miami aims for a signature win against North Carolina, Andrej Stojakovic

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

Purdue visits Pinnacle Bank Arena
Trips to Lincoln to play Nebraska have been far from easy for the Boilers. The Huskers beat Purdue by double digits in 2024 and Matt Painter’s team only won by three points in overtime when they visited during the 2022-23 season. Tonight’s trip to Pinnacle Bank Arena seems destined to be Purdue’s toughest one yet. The Boilers are coming off a narrow four-point win over Oregon at home on Saturday and haven’t looked like a top tier team in last month or so.

Miami aims for a signature win against North Carolina
Jai Lucas has done a tremendous job in his first season as a head coach, but the Hurricanes’ 18-5 record currently does not include a signature win over a team that’s a lock to play in the NCAA Tournament. That would obviously change tonight if Miami can beat North Carolina in Coral Gables. It will be interesting to see how the Tar Heels respond after Saturday’s emotional win over Duke in Chapel Hill. Keep a close eye on Hurricanes big man Malik Reneau (20.0 points, 6.5 rebounds) against the Tar Heels’ interior tandem of Caleb Wilson (20.2 points, 9.6 rebounds) and Henri Veesaar (16.6 points, 9.1 rebounds).

Andrej Stojakovic is starting to put it together for Illinois
This 6-7 wing is a big-time offensive talent, but his lack of consistency makes him a mercurial player. Nevertheless, Stojakovic has tallied back-to-back 17-point efforts for Illini entering tonight’s game against Wisconsin in Champaign and could take this team to a different level if he becomes a regular scoring threat. Stojakovic hasn’t had three straight games this season with 17 or more points since mid-November. Illinois is 20-4 and trails Michigan by a game in the Big Ten standings.

On The Side

  • Here’s the thing about Michigan: The Wolverines’ four primary reserves — LJ Cason, Roddy Gayle, Trey McKenney, and Will Tschetter — could pair with either Morez Johnson and/or Aday Mara and finish in the top half of the Big Ten and make the NCAA Tournament.
  • Texas Tech’s Donovan Atwell (12.3 points) is averaging 3.5 made three-point shots while shooting 44.3 percent from long distance. This guy could very well be the least appreciated transfer in college basketball.
  • UCLA’s Donovan Dent has tallied 32 assists and just four turnovers in his last three games. That’s an assist-to-turnover ratio of 8:1 if you’re keeping score at home.
  • Alabama’s Latrell Wrightsell (knee) should play Wednesday against Ole Miss after an ultrasound over the weekend revealed no major damage, Nate Oats told College Hoops Today. The 6-3 Wrightsell averages 11.7 points and only played 11 minutes in Saturday’s win against Auburn.
  • Villanova’s Kevin Willard was today’s guest on INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW. To watch the full interview, click HERE.

Daily Specials

  • Purdue at Nebraska
  • North Carolina at Miami
  • Vanderbilt at Auburn
  • BYU at Baylor
  • Wisconsin at Illinois

Leftovers