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The Breakfast Buffet: Keegan Murray, Notre Dame, Kerr Kriisa

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

Keegan Murray steps to the forefront
Iowa has been a non-story through the first few weeks of the season, but that changes tonight when the Hawkeyes visit Virginia as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. After losing both Luka Garza and Joe Wieksamp to the NBA following last season, Fran McCaffery now has another burgeoning prospect in the 6-8 Murray, who is currently averaging 25.7 points and leading in the nation in scoring. Murray is also grabbing 8.8 rebounds and shooting an impressive 62.2 percent from the field. It will be interesting to see how he performs in what will be his first major showcase game of the young season. Iowa has yet to play a team from a power conference and its contrast in styles with Virginia sets up a fascinating chess match. The Cavaliers are only allowing an average of 47.5 points in their last four games after losing at Houston a few weeks ago while the Hawkeyes are currently averaging 97.2 points. Something has to give tonight in Charlottesville.

Notre Dame’s early crossroads
It’s only late November, but tonight begins a critical couple of weeks for Mike Brey and the Irish. Notre Dame went 1-2 last week at the Maui Invitational in Las Vegas with its only win coming against Chaminade and enters tonight’s game at Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at just 3-2 overall. Following tonight’s tilt in Champaign, the Irish will travel to Boston College and then host Kentucky in South Bend on Dec. 11th. A neutral site game in Indianapolis follows with Indiana on Dec. 18th in the Crossroads Classic. That’s four key games against power conference opponents before Christmas for a team that lost neutral site games a week ago to Saint Mary’s and Texas A&M. Remember: Notre Dame hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017 and six of this team’s top seven scorers — Paul Atkinson, Dane Goodwin, Cormac Ryan, Nate Laszewski, Prentiss Hubb, and Trey Wertz — are either seniors or graduate students. This team’s time is now. It can start displaying some tangible progress tonight against Illinois in Champaign.

Kerr Kriisa is on a tear for Arizona
Point guard play was the biggest question for the Wildcats in their first season under Tommy Lloyd after losing James Akinjo to Baylor via the transfer portal. So far, Kriisa has been one heck of an answer. The native of Estonia is flourishing in his first full season of college basketball, setting the table for his teammates while also picking his spots to attack when there’s an opportunity. In Arizona’s last three games, Kriisa has handed out 22 assists while only committing four turnovers. He’s currently averaging 10 points, 5.3 assists, and 1.5 steals. Kriisa only played eight games last season due to NCAA eligibility issues. The Wildcats are 6-0 and will open Pac-12 play on Thursday in Tucson against Washington.

On The Side

  • Three weeks into the season, Duke does not appear to have a clear cut top challenger in the ACC. Why is that so significant? The Blue Devils haven’t won a share of the ACC regular season title since 2010, which was also the year that this program won its fourth national title under Mike Krzyzewski. Duke’s last outright ACC regular season title was during the 2005-06 season.
  • Only two of Texas’ next seven games are against power conference competition. The biggest potential litmus test for the Longhorns during that stretch? A trip to Seton Hall on Dec. 9th as part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle. Chris Beard’s squad will also play Stanford in a neutral site game in Las Vegas on Dec. 18th.
  • Looking for an under-the-radar transfer? Try Auburn’s K.D. Johnson. The 6-foot combo guard is a hard playing competitor who’s currently third nationally in steals (3.3). Johnson is also averaging 15.7 points while shooting 40 percent from three-point range. He spent one season at Georgia before opting to play for Bruce Pearl and the Tigers.
  • Iowa State’s top six scorers — Izaiah Brockington, Gabe Kalscheur, Tyrese Hunter, Aljaz Kunc, Tristan Enaruna, and Caleb Grill — were not a part of the Cyclones’ program last season. Five of those players are transfers. T.J. Otzelberger’s squad is 6-0 and will next host Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum.
  • Washington has lost three buy games in the month of November and is just 4-4 overall. The Huskies will next travel to Arizona before returning home to host UCLA and then head back on the road to visit Gonzaga. Yikes!

Daily Specials

  • Central Michigan at Kentucky
  • Iowa at Virginia
  • Notre Dame at Illinois
  • Grand Canyon at Loyola Marymount
  • Montana at Oregon

Leftovers