College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: Clemson has a big week, Villanova, DaRon Holmes II

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

Clemson has a big week
Are the Tigers a bonafide contender along with Duke and North Carolina for the ACC regular season title? We’ll have a better idea after this week. Brad Brownell’s team will visit Miami tonight in Coral Gables and then host North Carolina on Saturday. Clemson is currently 11-1, with a 4-1 mark against power conference opponents. The Tigers are also 3-1 in games decided by five points or fewer. This week should be a pretty good indicator as to just how high the ceiling is for this team this season.

Villanova begins a key home stand
The Wildcats’ regained some of their early season momentum last week with back-to-back road wins at Creighton and DePaul. Continuing that momentum during its next three games at Finneran Pavilion is paramount. Villanova will host Xavier tonight, St. John’s on Saturday, and DePaul on Jan. 12th. Kyle Neptune’s squad needs to win at least two of these next three games to keep pace atop the Big East. Following this three-game home stand, the Wildcats will travel to Marquette and then return to Philadelphia to play UConn on Jan. 20th the Wells Fargo Center.

DaRon Holmes II is America’s unsung star
Dayton is the quietest 10-2 team in college basketball and Holmes is the sport’s quietest star. It may not stay that way for long. The 6-10 junior enters tonight’s game at Davidson (7 PM ET, CBS Sports Network) averaging 17.7 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting a career-high 43.5 percent from three-point range. Holmes has already made 10 three-point shots this season — he made seven combined shots from long distance during his first two years of college basketball. The Flyers are 10-2, with their only losses coming at Northwestern and on a neutral court against Houston. If this team handles its business over the next few months, it should be in fine shape for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament despite minimal Quad 1 opportunities during Atlantic 10 play. Dayton is currently ranked 25th in the NET.

On The Side

  • Three of Houston’s first four Big 12 games are in the state of Texas.
  • Think Nae’Qwan Tomlin is going to make a difference for Memphis? The 6-10 forward is averaging 11.5 points, nine rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in his first two games with the Tigers after transferring from Kansas State.
  • Providence has won 18 of its last 20 Big East games at Amica Mutual Pavilion entering tonight’s matchup with Seton Hall.
  • Stanford freshman Kanaan Carlyle has been a revelation for the Cardinal. After missing the first eight games of the season due to a “non-injury” issue, the 6-3 guard is averaging 13.3 points and scored 28 in Sunday’s win over Arizona in Palo Alto.
  • BYU’s Fousseyni Traore (hamstring) is “hoping to return” for Saturday’s Big 12 opener against Cincinnati in Provo, Mark Pope told College Hoops Today on Tuesday. The 6-6 Traore hasn’t played since Nov. 24th, but returned to practice as a full participant on Monday. He’s averaging 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in six games this season.

Daily Specials

  • Seton Hall at Providence
  • Rutgers at Ohio State
  • Clemson at Miami
  • Xavier at Villanova
  • Indiana at Nebraska

Leftovers