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The Breakfast Buffet: Alabama, Baha Mar Bahamas Hoops Championship, Memphis head to West Coast

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

Alabama scored 100 points against Illinois and Mark Sears scored zero
That is not a misprint. The Crimson Tide’s 100-87 win over the Illini on Wednesday night in Birmingham came with Sears — a National Player of the Year candidate — failing to score a single point. He entered Wednesday’s game averaging 17.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Alabama’s ability to beat a Big Ten opponent without the 6-1 Sears having any sort of an offensive impact reiterates its overall depth. Four different players on the Crimson Tide’s roster — Grant Nelson, Latrell Wrightsell, Aden Holloway, and LaBaron Philon — scored 16 or more points against the Illini.

The Baha Mar Bahamas Hoops Championship
This tournament is quickly becoming one of the top events on the college basketball calendar and this year’s field is exceptionally impressive. Tonight’s matchups of Baylor/St. John’s and Tennessee/Virginia feels like a Sweet 16 doubleheader during the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Three of these four teams — Baylor, Tennessee, and St. John’s — are currently ranked in the Top 21 of the ROTHSTEIN 45 while Virginia enters tonight’s game against Tennessee at 3-0. The winner of this tournament is going to have two really good wins on its resume that will travel all the way to Selection Sunday.

Memphis hits the West Coast
The first of four games that the Tigers will play on their extended road trip occurs tonight at the Chase Center against a very good San Francisco team that’s aiming to add a quality win to its resume. Following tonight’s matchup with the Dons, Memphis will play three games in the Maui Invitational starting with Monday’s opening round game against UConn. We’ll have a better idea of just how high the ceiling is for Penny Hardaway’s team over the next seven days. Keep a close eye on the Tigers’ backcourt of Tyrese Hunter and PJ Haggerty, who are combining to average 40.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 3.3 steals in their first three games.

On The Side

  • Kansas is 37-5 over the past five seasons in games where Dajuan Harris scores in double figures.
  • Texas’ Tramon Mark (ankle) has returned to 5-on-5 work and is inching closer towards a return to game action, a school spokesman told College Hoops Today on Wednesday. A transfer from Arkansas, the 6-5 Mark averaged 16.2 points last season. The Longhorns will face Syracuse tonight in the first round of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center.
  • Is Texas Tech the best offensive team that Grant McCasland has ever coached? Don’t rule it out of the realm of possibility. The Red Raiders are shooting 45.1 percent from three-point range as a team entering tonight’s matchup with St. Joe’s in the first round of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center.
  • Tonight’s meeting between Oregon and Oregon State in Corvallis is the first-ever meeting between the two in-state rivals when they weren’t members of the same conference.
  • VCU announced on Wednesday that it will retire Briante Weber’s jersey on Dec. 22nd when it hosts William & Mary.

Daily Specials

  • Baylor/St. John’s (Baha Mar)
  • Tennessee/Virginia (Baha Mar)
  • Syracuse/Texas (Barclays Center)
  • St. Joe’s/Texas Tech (Barclays Center)
  • Memphis/San Francisco (Chase Center)

Leftovers