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The Breakfast Buffet: Walker Kessler, SEC more than a football conference, Michigan/UCF

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

Walker Kessler is emerging for Auburn
The Tigers’ frontcourt is about much more than just Jabari Smith. Kessler — a transfer from North Carolina — is coming into his own for Auburn — especially defensively. The 7-1 center has blocked 27 shots in his last four games; he blocked 25 during all of last season with the Tar Heels. Kessler had 11 blocks in Wednesday night’s 70-55 win over LSU to go with 16 points and nine rebounds. He only averaged 4.4 points and 3.2 last season prior to transferring.

The SEC is more than a football conference
That may be hard for the casual sports fan to grasp in a week where both Alabama and Georgia will take part in the College Football Playoff, but it’s the utmost truth. The SEC is in position to challenge the Big Ten and the Big 12 this season for the most conference representation in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Eight teams from this league — Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, LSU, Mississippi State, and Arkansas — are all firmly in contention to hear their names called on Selection Sunday. Expect the SEC to get a minimum of six teams in the bracket on Selection Sunday.

Michigan/UCF
We still don’t know just how good Michigan (7-4) is, but we’ll have a better idea after tonight. UCF is a hidden commodity nationally despite a pair of losses to Auburn and Oklahoma as the only blemishes in its 8-2 start. This Knights’ top four scorers — Darin Green Jr., Darius Perry, C.J. Walker, and Brandon Mahan — are all juniors and seniors, giving this team the type of experience it needs to have a breakthrough season. Michigan’s performance tonight in Orlando will be a pretty good indicator as to what we can expect from the Wolverines at the start of Big Ten play in January. This is the game of the night in college hoops.

On The Side

  • Duke’s Wendell Moore drastically improved his ball security. The 6-5 junior has 60 assists this season to just 21 turnovers. That’s an assist-to-turnover of nearly 3:1. Moore had a combined 112 assists and 109 turnovers during the first two years of his college basketball career.
  • Noah Horchler is the unsung presence in Providence’s 12-1 start. The 6-8 big man has tallied two double-doubles in his last three games and had 17 points and 13 rebounds in Wednesday night’s 70-65 win over Seton Hall. Horchler has given Ed Cooley another interior presence up front to go alongside Nate Watson.
  • Purdue had 30 assists on 35 made field goals in Wednesday’s 104-90 win over Nicholls. That’s illegal in 48 states.
  • NC State transfer Shakeel Moore continues to be a revelation for Mississippi State. The 6-1 lefty has scored nine or more points in his last five games and had 15 points and five assists in Wednesday night’s 81-68 win over Arkansas.
  • The 2022 NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be played as scheduled — not in a bubble like last season despite the recent surge of COVID-19.

Daily Specials

  • Michigan at UCF
  • Brown at Maryland
  • St. Joe’s at Richmond
  • Utah at Oregon State

Leftovers