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The Breakfast Buffet: Kam Jones, Tennessee, Creighton is at an early crossroads

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

Kam Jones has emerged as one of the best players in the Big East
After averaging just 7.4 points a year ago as a freshman, Jones is taking a massive step forward as a sophomore. The 6-4 lefty has scored 20 or more points in three of his last four games and had 25 in Marquette’s 79-64 win at Notre Dame on Sunday. Jones is also becoming a much more efficient offensive player. During his last four games, Jones is shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 45.1 percent from three-point range. He shot 41.5 percent from the field and 39.2 percent from long distance last season. With Jones as a focal point, Marquette is in prime position to play in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year under Shaka Smart.

Tennessee had a “Jekyll and Hyde” type performance on Sunday against Maryland
The Vols left the Barclays Center with a three-point win over a quality opponent and that’s the most important thing. They also showed why they’re more than capable of advancing to the Final Four this season or exiting early in the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee’s vicious defense helped build a 21-point first half lead and a 16-point lead with 11 minutes to play. All of it dissipated as Maryland had multiple chances to tie the game late before coming up just short. The Vols — who only had one player reach double figures — saw their offense become all out of sorts in the second half and only shot 28.8 percent from the field in the win. When Tennessee is good, it’s really good. When it’s shaky, it’s going to make you do a Google search for the nearest cardiologist.

Creighton is at an early crossroads
I know that it’s only December. I know that Creighton shot a combined 14-67 from three-point range in back-to-back losses to Texas and Nebraska. I also know that Ryan Kalkbrenner — last season’s Big East Defensive Player of the Year — didn’t play in Saturday night’s loss to BYU in Las Vegas due to an undisclosed illness. Here’s the bottom line: The Bluejays are 6-4 and haven’t won a game since the day before Thanksgiving. They’ve lost four games in a row, but were still good enough to beat Texas Tech and Arkansas in the Maui Invitational. Are they good enough to handle the massive expectations that were bestowed upon them prior to the season? That’s TBD. Creighton plays Arizona State (9-1) tonight in Las Vegas and then will open Big East play on Friday against Marquette. Every single game that it plays for the rest of the season will be against a power conference opponent. We’re about to find out — starting tonight — if this team is truly capable of competing for a Big East regular season title and a high seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

On The Side

  • Dylan Andrews is starting to become a consistent contributor for UCLA. The 6-2 freshman has tallied 17 points in his last two games and boasts an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio of 15:3 for the entire season. The Bruins will next visit Maryland on Wednesday.
  • Another sign that we’re in a new era of college basketball: Five of Kentucky’s top six scorers — Oscar Tshiebwe, Antonio Reeves, Jacob Toppin, Sahvir Wheeler, and CJ Fredrick — are transfers.
  • TCU (8-1) should not have lost to Northwestern State, but the Horned Frogs didn’t have their starting backcourt — Damion Baugh (11.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists) and Mike Miles (18.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, three assists) — available for that game. No one is going to want any part of this team in March.
  • Texas Tech’s Fardaws Aimaq (foot) is set to be re-evaluated this week, Mark Adams told College Hoops Today. The 6-11 big man — who transferred from Utah Valley — averaged 18.9 points and 13.6 rebounds last season. If Aimaq can return in the next month, the Red Raiders would have a lethal combination at center with he and Daniel Batcho (13 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks).
  • Iona (6-2) beat two of the top programs in the Atlantic 10 — Saint Louis and St. Bonaventure — back-to-back this week by an average of 18.5 points without its starting power forward Quinn Slazinski (18 points, 7.5 rebounds), who is out with an ankle injury. It may be time for the Atlantic 10 to look at adding the Gaels as a 16th team in an effort to add a strong presence in the New York market. This league desperately needs a jolt.

Daily Specials

  • Rice at Texas
  • Liberty at Oral Roberts
  • Northern Illinois at Gonzaga
  • Creighton/Arizona State (Las Vegas)
  • New Mexico/San Francisco (Las Vegas)

Leftovers