College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Arkansas got its season back, North Carolina, Texas Tech

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

Arkansas got its season back
People from the periphery will view the Razorbacks’ 89-79 win on Saturday at Rupp Arena as straight revenge for John Calipari, but it’s much more than that. Arkansas still has plenty of work to do to get itself back in the NCAA Tournament picture, but it currently owns a road win over Kentucky and a neutral site win over Michigan on its resume. That’s better than most bubble teams. The Razorbacks will also have a plethora of Quad 1 opportunities looming between now and Selection Sunday because they play in the SEC. This team’s season is far from over. Keep a close eye on Calipari and the Razorbacks as a potential 14th team to monitor out of the SEC for March Madness.

North Carolina showed zero resistance against Duke
This is not a vintage rendition of the Tar Heels, but they can’t go into a game against their rival and apply zero game pressure when they’re clearly on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils led by as many as 32 points in the second half on Saturday night before winding up with an 87-70 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was the 10th loss of the season for North Carolina with eight regular season games remaining before the ACC Tournament. The Tar Heels will next host Pitt on Saturday in Chapel Hill and are in serious danger of missing March Madness for the second time in the past three seasons.

Texas Tech’s win over Houston was the best I’ve seen this season
That is not hyperbole. The Cougars entered Saturday’s game at the Fertitta Center undefeated in the Big 12 while beating their home opponents by an average of 25.0 points in league play. None of that intimidated the Red Raiders, who lost their best interior player — JT Toppin — to questionable Flagrant 2 ejection in the first half and their head coach — Grant McCasland — who was also ejected after arguing Toppin’s dismissal. Reliable guard Kevin Overton (9.2 points) also didn’t play due to a head injury. None of it could break Texas Tech’s will. Thanks to quality stewardship by top assistant and former Wyoming head coach Jeff Linder, the Red Raiders scratched and clawed to an 82-81 overtime win. The victory ended Houston’s 33-game winning streak at the Fertitta Center. No team in the sport had a better triumph this season than Texas Tech did on Saturday.

On The Side

  • Tennessee lost by 30 at full strength against Florida on Jan. 7th in Gainesville. The Vols beat the Gators by 20 on Saturday with two starters — Zakai Zeigler (knee) and Igor Milicic (illness) — out of the lineup. Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball.
  • St. John’s Kadary Richmond is averaging 15.6 points, 5.6 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.6 steals in his last five games. This is the player that we saw lead Seton Hall to a Postseason NIT title a year ago.
  • Iowa State’s loss to Kansas State on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum was a Quad 3 defeat. If it stays that way, it could severely inhibit the Cyclones’ ability to be a number one seed on Selection Sunday.
  • Baylor freshman V.J. Edgecombe has been diagnosed with an ankle injury and currently has no timetable for a return, a school spokesman told College Hoops Today on Saturday night. Edgecombe — who currently averages 14.9 points — left Saturday’s win over Kansas midway through the second half due to injury.
  • Chris Collins announced on Saturday that Northwestern’s Brooks Barnhizer (17.1 points, 8.8 rebounds) will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 with a foot injury, which ultimately ends his college career. My heart breaks for this young man, who played a major role the past two teams at Northwestern who reached the NCAA Tournament.

Daily Specials

  • Ohio State at Illinois
  • West Virginia at Cincinnati
  • Memphis at Rice
  • Bradley at Northern Iowa
  • Nebraska at Oregon

Leftovers