College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Alabama/Vanderbilt, Virginia, Caleb Foster

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/Vanderbilt
Like offense? If so, then you’ll love this matchup in Nashville between the Crimson Tide and Commodores. Alabama enters tonight’s game averaging 94.1 points while Vanderbilt averages 93.4 points. The 14-0 start by Mark Byington’s team has been one of this season’s biggest surprises, but the Commodores have yet to face an opponent as explosive and talented as the Crimson Tide. We’ll know a lot more about Vanderbilt after the next 40 minutes.

Virginia is going to get more and more attention as the season goes on
I know it’s still early January. I know there’s a lot of season left. I also know this: I really like Virginia. The Cavaliers are completely different under Ryan Odom than they were under Tony Bennett and the transformation has been extraordinary. Virginia will take a 12-2 record into tonight’s game in Charlottesville against Cal and possesses a roster that features tremendous pace, depth, size, shooting, and balance. Nine players on this squad average between 6.3 points and 16.4 points. This is one of the best teams in the ACC.

Caleb Foster is emerging for Duke
The Blue Devils may have found a third scorer to go with Cameron Boozer and Isaiah Evans. The broad shouldered Foster had 20 points in Tuesday night’s win at Louisville and has tallied 45 points in his last three games. If he remains a threat to score in double figures each time he takes the floor then it will drastically alter how opponents are able attack Duke defensively. The 6-5 Foster was also extremely efficient against Louisville, making 9-13 shots from the field to go with four rebounds.

On The Side

  • UConn has won six straight meetings against Providence entering tonight’s matchup at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
  • Boogie Fland is 0-11 from three-point range in Florida’s last three games and 12-63 (19.0 percent) from long distance on the entire season.
  • Clemson’s starting backcourt — Dillon Hunter and Jestin Porter — has a combined 32 turnovers this season in a total of 762 minutes played. That’s an average of just one turnover every 23.8 minutes between the two players that comprise the Tigers’ two starting perimeter spots. Brad Brownell’s team is 12-3 and will host SMU tonight.
  • UCLA Is giving up an average of 75.6 points in eight games this season against power conference opponents.
  • As of today, tonight’s matchup between Saint Louis (13-1) and VCU (11-4) will be the only Quad 1 opportunity for each of these teams during the regular season. Sad!

Daily Specials

  • UConn at Providence
  • Iowa State at Baylor
  • Alabama at Vanderbilt
  • Cal at Virginia
  • SMU at Clemson

Leftovers