College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: Oscar Tshiebwe, Memphis, Murderer’s Row awaits LSU

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

Oscar Tshiebwe is playing like an All-American
There’s video game like numbers and then there’s what Tshiebwe is doing, which is absolutely ridiculous. The 6-9, 255 pound big man is averaging 16.1 points, 15.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks through Kentucky’s first 11 games and is fresh off a 14-point, 28-rebound performance last week against Western Kentucky, where he single handedly out-rebounded the entire Hilltoppers’ team. Tshiebwe has grabbed 15 or more rebounds in six of Kentucky’s first 11 games; he’s grabbed 20 or more rebounds three times. A transfer from West Virginia, Tshiebwe is not just feasting on meager competition. In the Wildcats’ three games this season against power conference opponents — Duke, Notre Dame, and North Carolina — he’s averaging 19.3 points and 13 rebounds. There’s a plethora of great front court players in college basketball this season, but Tshiebwe has put himself directly in the All-American conversation with this type of play out of the gate.

The door is wide open for Memphis in the American Athletic Conference
Season-ending injuries to two of Houston’s starters — Marcus Sasser (toe) and Tramon Mark (shoulder) — severely lessens the Cougars’ overall ceiling and completely opens things up for the Tigers to win this league. Kelvin Sampson’s team is still going to be a tough out because of its culture and rebounding prowess, but the loss of both Sasser and Mark — who were averaging a combined 27.8 points — may ultimately be too much to overcome. While UCF, Cincinnati, Wichita State, and SMU have all played solid basketball during the first two months of the season, none of those teams have the caliber of personnel that Memphis does, which was evidenced by its 92-78 win over Alabama on Dec. 14th. The Tigers — who are just 6-4 — have not played since their win over the Crimson Tide due to a COVID pause, but are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday against Tulane in New Orleans. With Houston — a Final Four team a year ago — now a shell of itself, anything less than an American Athletic Conference regular season title should be considered a disappointment for Memphis.

Murderer’s Row awaits LSU
Six of the Tigers’ next seven opponents — Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee (twice), Florida, and Alabama — are currently ranked in the ROTHSTEIN 45 and the one who isn’t — Arkansas — is 10-2 after 12 games. If LSU can win three or four of its next seven games, it’ll put itself in position to compete for an SEC regular season title. If it doesn’t, it will be destined to finish somewhere in the middle of the league standings. The Tigers are off to an impressive 12-0 start despite the fact that Illinois transfer Adam Miller — who averaged 8.3 points last season — is out for the year with a torn ACL.

On The Side

  • The Big 12 has a combined record of 96-16 as a conference. The four teams who are set to the join this league in the next few years — UCF, Houston, Cincinnati, and BYU — have a combined record of 40-10. This conference is going absolutely nowhere when it eventually loses Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.
  • Eric Dixon is emerging for Villanova. The 6-8 lefty is averaging 15 points and 8.5 rebounds over his last two games; it’s the only time in Dixon’s career that he’s scored in double figures in back-to-back games. This is a critical piece to monitor moving forward for the Wildcats.
  • Two teams who were ranked in last week’s AP Top 25 — UCLA and Colorado State — have both not played a game since Dec. 11th due to COVID.
  • Charleston transfer Zep Jasper is the unsung presence in Auburn’s rotation. The 6-1 point guard has just eight turnovers in 303 total minutes played. That’s an average of just one turnover every 37.9 minutes. Jasper’s assist-to-turnover ratio is just over 4:1.
  • Wyoming is a legitimate sleeper in the Mountain West. The Cowboys are 11-2 despite losing their best player from last season — Marcus Williams — who transferred to Texas A&M. Jeff Linder’s team will open conference play on Saturday against Boise State in Laramie.

Daily Specials

  • Brown at Syracuse

Leftovers