College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: Villanova is “in position to be in position”, Jalen Pickett, Keyontae Johnson

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

Villanova is “in position to be in position”
That’s something that didn’t seem like it would be written a few weeks ago, but four straight wins can quickly change the narrative surrounding a program. There were several factors that contributed to the Wildcats’ 2-5 start, but the bottom line is this: Villanova is 4-0 with five-star freshman Cam Whitmore (13.5 points, 5.3 rebounds) in the lineup and 2-5 when he is not. That’s something that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will take into account if the Wildcats can put themselves in position to earn an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Villanova will begin that quest on Wednesday night when it opens up Big East play at home against St. John’s (11-1). Remember: It was going to be difficult for Kyle Neptune — or anyone — to lead this program in its first season post-Jay Wright. It was also going to be difficult for Neptune to navigate a vicious schedule that features 29 out of 31 regular season games against either power conference or Big 5 opponents, especially when Whitmore wasn’t available for the first seven games. Justin Moore — an All-Big East first-team caliber player — is also still out indefinitely with an achilles injury and has no timetable for return. With all that said, Villanova still is “in position to be in position” as it begins league play this week.

Jalen Pickett is playing like the best guard in the Big Ten
That is not hyperbole — it’s straight fact. Pickett — who opted to return for a fifth season — is doing a little bit of everything for the Nittany Lions, including serving as a low post option in Micah Shrewsberry’s “spread offense” despite only checking in at 6-4. Through 11 games, Pickett is averaging 16.2 points, 7.6 assists, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals. He’s the only guard in the Big Ten who’s in the top 10 among league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists. Pickett’s success is yet another example of why it’s so important for coaches to recruit productive players to come back for a COVID season unless they have a lucrative professional opportunity that they simply cannot pass on.

Keyontae Johnson is writing an incredible comeback story at Kansas State
And it’s only December. The 6-6 Johnson — who transferred to Kansas State after spending the first part of his career at Florida — is quietly playing like one of the best players in the Big 12 just a little over two years after collapsing on the floor when the Gators were playing at Florida State in Dec. of 2020. He’s currently averaging a career-high 17.8 points along with 6.8 rebounds while shooting 60.3 percent from the field and 51.5 percent from three-point range. All of this is happening as the Wildcats have tallied 10 wins in their first 11 games under first-year head coach Jerome Tang. This is a story to monitor closely as Kansas State wraps up its non-conference schedule on Wednesday against Radford before beginning Big 12 play on Dec. 31st against West Virginia at home.

On The Side

  • Five of Marquette’s top six scorers — Kam Jones, Olivier Maxence-Prosper, Oso Ighodaro, David Joplin, and Stevie Mitchell — are all averaging career highs in both points and rebounds.
  • Kansas (10-1) has had assists on 82 of its 133 made field goals during its current four-game winning streak. That’s 61.7 percent for those of you keeping score at home!
  • One big reason why Houston (11-1) can get even better? Freshman guard Terrance Arceneaux has only scored a total of 14 points in his last six games. The 6-5 Arceneaux had 15 points in 19 minutes in a win at Oregon on Nov. 20th. This is a wildcard to watch for the Cougars moving forward.
  • UCLA’s Jaylen Clark has had four steals in each of his last three games. It’s the first time that Clark has tallied four steals in a game since the first two games of the season.
  • The Atlantic 10 is currently just 101-68 as a conference. Barring something unforeseen, the only member of this league that will hear its name called on Selection Sunday will be the winner of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Daily Specials

  • Maine at Akron
  • St. Bonaventure at Siena
  • South Dakota State at Oral Roberts
  • Weber State at Utah State
  • UT Arlington at San Francisco

Leftovers