College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Arizona/Purdue, CBS Sports Classic, Hunter Dickinson returns to Bloomington

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/Purdue
A Final Four caliber game in Indianapolis headlines what should be a terrific day of college basketball. Tommy Lloyd’s squad enters today’s matchup at 8-0 and has five different players — Caleb Love, Keshad Johnson, Oumar Ballo, Kylan Boswell, and Pelle Larsson — averaging in double figures. Arizona though, does not have Zach Edey. The reigning National Player of the Year is well on his way to being the first player to win the award in back-to-back seasons for the first time since Ralph Sampson did it at Virginia in the early 1980s and is averaging 24.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.6 blocks. Beyond Edey’s dominance though, this game will be a good indicator as to whether or not the Boilers’ perimeter has improved defensively against quicker guards who can play with burst. Arizona and Purdue are ranked FIRST and THIRD respectively in this week’s ROTHSTEIN 45.

The CBS Sports Classic
One of the elite non-conference events in college basketball takes place today in Atlanta with UCLA taking on Ohio State (3 PM ET, CBS) and Kentucky facing North Carolina (5:30 PM ET, CBS). The Bruins are desperate for a marquee win, but still can’t seem to get healthy as freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel (ankle) will likely miss his second straight game due to injury. Ohio State meanwhile, is 8-2 after 10 games and primed for a bounce back season after finishing 16-19 a year ago. And Kentucky-North Carolina? The young Wildcats will have their hands full with the Tar Heels’ experience. Two of North Carolina’s upperclassmen — RJ Davis (21 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists) and Armando Bacot (15.9 points, 11.9 rebounds) — are currently playing like All-Americans.

Hunter Dickinson returns to Bloomington
Today’s trip to Assembly Hall may be new territory for Kansas, but it’s not for Dickinson. The Jayhawks’ All-American center is 2-1 in games on Indiana’s home floor during his career dating back his time at Michigan, with the one loss coming last season by two points in overtime. The 7-2 Dickinson is averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds when he’s played in Bloomington during his career and 19.4 points and 12.6 rebounds this season for Kansas. Tip off for today’s game is at 12:30 PM ET on CBS.

On The Side

  • Alabama is allowing an average of 90 points against power conference opponents entering tonight’s game against Creighton in Omaha.
  • Michigan State will be two games under .500 for the first time since the start of the 2016-17 season if it loses today against Baylor at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit.
  • New Mexico’s Jamal Mashburn Jr. (thumb) is hopeful to return at some point after Christmas, Richard Pitino told College Hoops Today on Friday. The 6-2 Mashburn averages 18.2 points for the 10-1 Lobos, but has not played since Nov. 22nd.
  • Think this is a big week for Memphis? The 7-2 Tigers will host Clemson, Virginia, and Vanderbilt at FedEx Forum over the next seven days.
  • College Hoops Today reported on Thursday that the Mountain West is in discussions with both Oregon State and Washington State to join the conference for the 2024-25 college basketball season.

Daily Specials

  • Kansas at Indiana
  • Baylor/Michigan State (Detroit)
  • Arizona/Purdue (Indianapolis)
  • Kentucky/North Carolina (Atlanta)
  • Alabama at Creighton

Leftovers