College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: Creighton is 9-2 since Ryan Kalkbrenner returned, Erik Stevenson, Steven Ashworth

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

Creighton is 9-2 since Ryan Kalkbrenner returned from illness
And the two losses since he’s been back were road games at UConn and Xavier. The Bluejays will enter tonight’s game against Seton Hall (15-9) in Newark with an overall record of 15-8, but they’re significantly more capable than that mark indicates. One of the primary reasons why is Kalkbrenner. The reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year has blocked 13 shots in his last four games, but he’s also been incredibly efficient offensively. During Creighton’s current six-game winning streak, the 7-1 Kalkbrenner is shooting 71.9 percent from the field. When fully healthy, there’s no team in college basketball that the Bluejays can’t stand toe to toe with.

West Virginia’s Erik Stevenson has become an all-conference caliber player
The fifth-year senior is averaging 24.5 points in his last four games entering tonight’s tilt with Iowa State (16-6) in Morgantown. During that span, Stevenson is 15-34 from three-point range and is also averaging 6.3 rebounds. His emergence has allowed the Mountaineers to put themselves on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble as of today. Stevenson’s ability to maintain this level — or somewhere close to it — is imperative if West Virginia is going to hear its name called on Selection Sunday,

Utah State’s Steven Ashworth is the best point guard that you don’t know about
This is the type of player that could become a national darling if the Aggies play in the NCAA Tournament. They’ll get an opportunity to enhance their chances tonight in Logan against San Diego State (18-5). The 6-1 junior enters tonight’s game averaging 15.9 points while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 47.5 percent from three-point range. Ashworth also boasts an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3:1 and is coming off a 26-point performance in Saturday’s win over Colorado State where he made eight three-point shots. Tip off for tonight’s game is at 10 PM ET on CBS Sports Network. Utah State (19-5) is seeking its first Quad 1 win of the season.

On The Side

  • Need another reason to like Miami (19-5) as an NCAA Tournament team? The Hurricanes’ top four scorers — Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller, Norchad Omier, and Nijel Pack — are all in at least their third season of college basketball.
  • Providence is 11-2 in games this season where Noah Locke (10.8 points) scores in double figures.
  • Oklahoma (12-11) is about to get swallowed by the Big 12. The Sooners will visit Baylor tonight then return home to host Kansas and Kansas State back-to-back before going back on the road to visit Texas. Yikes!
  • Virginia Tech’s Grant Basile has already made more three-point shots — 42 — than he did during all of last season when he was at Wright State when he made 39. The 6-9 Basile is also shooting 38.2 percent from long distance after shooting just 28.3 percent from three-point range a year ago.
  • Memphis’ two regular season games against Houston (17-6) are likely going to be its only two opportunities to gain a Quad 1 win before Selection Sunday unless it plays the Cougars for a third time in the American Athletic Conference Tournament. The Tigers currently only have two Quad 1 wins entering tonight’s game at South Florida (10-13).

Daily Specials

  • Creighton at Seton Hall
  • Iowa State at West Virginia
  • Florida at Alabama
  • Oklahoma at Baylor
  • San Diego State at Utah State

Leftovers