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The Breakfast Buffet: Arizona/Indiana, Mark Sears, Dennis Gates’ first big test at Missouri

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

Arizona/Indiana
Make no mistake about it: This is an Elite Eight caliber game. Tonight’s tilt between two of college basketball’s top programs — Arizona and Indiana — at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas is a heavyweight showdown featuring big-time star power up front. Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis (17.5 points, 8.9 rebounds) is a first-team All-American caliber big man while Arizona’s front court tandem of Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo is arguably the best power forward/center combination in college basketball. Tubelis and Ballo are averaging a combined 39.2 points and 17.6 rebounds entering tonight’s game while Jackson-Davis tallied a triple-double — 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists — in his last outing against Nebraska. The winner of this matchup will have a signature victory on its resume that will travel all the way to Selection Sunday.

Mark Sears is an unsung presence entering today’s matchup between Alabama and Houston
Everyone knows about the Crimson Tide’s Brandon Miller (19.1 points, 8.9 rebounds), who has already established himself as one of the best players in college basketball. Everyone knows about Houston’s nucleus of Marcus Sasser, Jamal Shead, Tramon Mark, Jarace Walker, and J’Wan Roberts. Not everybody may know about Sears —- who transferred to Tuscaloosa from Ohio — and is quietly having a heck of a season. The 6-1 guard is averaging 14.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists while shooting 44 percent from three-point range for Alabama, who enters today’s game at Houston at 7-1 with its only loss coming against UConn. Sometimes, the production of a player takes a major dip when they transfer from a mid-major conference to a power conference, but that hasn’t been the case with Sears. He averaged 19.6 points, six rebounds, and 4.1 assists last season at Ohio.

Dennis Gates’ first legitimate test at Missouri
The 42-year old Gates has the Tigers off to a 9-0 start in his first season as head coach in Columbia, but has yet to truly to face an opponent that looks to be in contention for a place in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. That will change today against Kansas (8-1). Up until this point, Missouri’s toughest games were on the road at Wichita State and at home against Ivy League favorite Penn. We’ll have a much better indication as to just how capable the Tigers are after they play the next 40 minutes. Missouri enters today’s game with seven different players averaging between nine and 16.2 points.

On The Side

  • Sean Miller was 3-2 against Cincinnati during his first tenure as Xavier’s head coach from 2004-09. This year’s edition of the Crosstown Shootout happens today at Fifth Third Arena.
  • North Carolina has 95 assists to 104 turnovers as a team entering today’s game against Georgia Tech in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have lost four straight games and are 0-4 this season against power conference opponents.
  • Creighton (6-3) will play two games in the next three days at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, starting with tonight against BYU. The Bluejays will also play Arizona State on Monday. Greg McDermott’s squad is on a three-game losing streak and is just 14-67 from three-point range in its last two games.
  • Buy stock in Michigan freshman Dug McDaniel, who is set to be the Wolverines’ starting point guard following Jaelin Llewellyn’s season-ending knee injury. The 5-11 floor general is averaging 10 points and 5.7 assists in games this season where he’s logged 20 minutes or more.
  • It’s only Dec. 10th, but it’s hard to see a path to an at-large bid for any Atlantic 10 team who isn’t Saint Louis (7-3) because of how poorly the league has played during the first month of the season. The Billikens host Boise State (7-2) — who has already beaten Texas A&M and Washington State — tonight at Chaifetz Arena.

Daily Specials

  • Alabama at Houston
  • Oklahoma/Arkansas (Tulsa)
  • Xavier at Cincinnati
  • Kansas at Missouri
  • Arizona/Indiana (Las Vegas)

Leftovers