College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Gonzaga/UCLA, Cincinnati, Tari Eason

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

Gonzaga/UCLA
The game of the year in college basketball features a Final Four rematch between the top two teams in the sport. The Bulldogs and Bruins aren’t the exact same squads that gave us one of the great games in NCAA Tournament history last spring, but there’s still many familiar pieces. What’s the biggest thing to monitor entering tonight’s heavyweight tilt in Las Vegas? Gonzaga’s offense against UCLA’s defense. The Bruins have yet to resemble the type of the defensive team that they were in the 2021 NCAA Tournament so far this season. If they don’t regain some of that form tonight, they’ll lose by double figures. Another thing to monitor? Jaime Jaquez’s ability to stretch UCLA’s offense from the power forward spot in an effort to bring Drew Timme away from the rim and open up the middle of the floor. A fascinating chess match awaits in Sin City.

Cincinnati is back
It didn’t take Wes Miller very long. Cincinnati’s first-year head coach inherited an awful situation last spring, but has quickly managed to bring the Bearcats back to national relevance. Monday night’s 71-51 win over Illinois in the first round of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City represented a signature win over a high-caliber opponent, but it also displayed this program’s ability to beat a quality team with its defense. This is what made this program one of the nation’s best under both Bob Huggins and Mick Cronin. Miller is the first coach at Cincinnati to start his career with five straight wins. The Bearcats will play Arkansas tonight in the title game of the Hall of Fame Classic.

Tari Eason is going to be one of the top newcomers in the SEC
Never heard of Eason? You will soon. The transfer from Cincinnati has tallied three double-doubles in his first five games for LSU and had 17 points and seven rebounds in Monday night’s 30-point win over Belmont. The 6-8 forward has All-SEC talent and allows the Tigers to feature someone else in the frontcourt other than Darius Days. Through five games, Eason is averaging 14 points and 8.8 rebounds. LSU is 5-0 and will next play Penn State on Friday in the first round of the Emerald Coast Classic.

On The Side

  • Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren has blocked 17 shots in his first five games. Nobody on the Bulldogs’ roster blocked more than 23 last season. This is an improved defensive team.
  • Illinois’ Andre Curbelo is a combined 8-30 from the field in his last two games and has eight assists to 12 turnovers during that span. The Illini have lost two straight. As Curbelo goes, so will Illinois.
  • Kudos to Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd for going out of his way to praise the team that he inherited from Sean Miller. Many coaches won’t do this — Lloyd has. It’s a class move. The Wildcats are 5-0 following Sunday night’s win over Michigan.
  • Georgia Tech’s Michael Devoe is quietly playing like one of the best guards in the country. The veteran southpaw is averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists while shooting 58.9 percent from the field and 65 percent from three-point range. Devoe missed Monday night’s win against Georgia Southern due to flu like symptoms.
  • The early combined resume of Houston, Cincinnati, BYU, and UCF — the four teams headed to the Big 12 in a few years — is impressive. This quartet has already picked up wins over Virginia, Butler, Georgia, Illinois, San Diego State, Oregon, and Miami.

Daily Specials

  • Houston/Wisconsin (Las Vegas)
  • Providence/Virginia (Newark)
  • Cincinnati/Arkansas (Kansas City)
  • Illinois/Kansas State (Kansas City)
  • UCLA/Gonzaga (Las Vegas)

Leftovers