College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: Andre Curbelo changes Illinois’ ceiling, Trevion Williams, a big night in the ACC

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

Andre Curbelo drastically changes Illinois’ ceiling
The Illini were playing great basketball before they got their point guard back on Monday against Purdue, but the return of Curbelo changes this team’s long-term prognosis. In his first game since Nov. 23rd, the sophomore floor general finished with 20 points, six rebounds, and three assists, but the thing that was most impressive was that Curbelo didn’t commit a single turnover in 26 minutes. Prior to Monday’s game, Curbelo had a total of 16 turnovers this season in 89 minutes played. His return combined with All-American big man Kofi Cockburn in the middle and a plethora of other capable pieces on the wing in Trent Frazier, Jacob Grandison, Alfonso Plummer, and Da’Monte Williams gives Brad Underwood a legitimate chance to put Illinois in the NCAA Tournament as a high seed for the second consecutive season.

Trevion Williams is Purdue’s best closer
Zach Edey is the the Boilers’ starting center and at 7-4, continues to look like the “Yao Ming of college basketball”. He tallied 20 points on 14 shots to go with eight rebounds in Monday’s 96-88 double-overtime win at Illinois. But as physically imposing as Edey is, the 6-8 Williams gives Purdue its best option in the pivot when the game is on the line. A cerebral forward with terrific vision, Williams — in addition to his scoring prowess — can set the table for his teammates as a facilitator out of the high post. Williams finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists on Monday against Illinois and has had two games this season with eight or more assists. Think another Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

A big night in the ACC
This is not an oxymoron. It’s been a historically bad season thus far in the ACC, but tonight’s slate presents several interesting storylines. The class of the conference — Duke (14-2) — will travel to Florida State (10-5), who has won three straight games and is clearly playing its best basketball of the season. Meanwhile, Miami (13-4) — who beat Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium 10 days ago before losing in the final seconds at Florida State a few days later — will host North Carolina (12-4) in Coral Gables. The ACC — at least for tonight — has tangible intrigue.

On The Side

  • Greg Gard is expecting nothing less than a battle tonight when Wisconsin (14-2) visits Northwestern (9-6) in Evanston. The Wildcats beat Michigan State on Saturday in East Lansing without Pete Nance (17.1 points, 7.7 rebounds), who was out with an ankle injury. “With or without Pete Nance — that’s an incredible win,” Gard said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast. “They’re better than their record. We’re going to have to play really well on Tuesday to have a chance to win.”
  • Need another example of how immediate eligibility has changed college sports? None of Auburn’s top four scorers — Jabari Smith, Wendell Green, Walker Kessler, and K.D. Johnson — were active members of the Tigers’ program last season. Smith is the only member of that quartet who isn’t a transfer.
  • Oklahoma (12-5) has a massive week ahead with back-to-back games in Norman against Kansas and Baylor. This is the biggest 80-minute stretch of Porter Moser’s short tenure with the Sooners.
  • UConn (11-4) needs more out of Jordan Hawkins. The 6-5 freshman has scored a total of nine points in his last four games and hasn’t reached double figures since the Huskies’ win over St. Bonaventure on Dec. 11th. UConn can’t challenge for a Big East regular season title unless Hawkins is a regular factor offensively.
  • The MAAC is doing itself a disservice by having tonight’s game between Iona (14-3) and Monmouth (10-5) begin at 7 PM ET, where it will be buried alongside a slew of power conference games. As of Monday, these are the only two teams from the conference that are ranked in the Top 100 of the NET.

Daily Specials

  • Baylor at West Virginia
  • Kansas at Oklahoma
  • Duke at Florida State
  • Wisconsin at Northwestern
  • Iowa State at Texas Tech

Leftovers