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The Breakfast Buffet: Deivon Smith, Denver Jones, Big 12 play begins

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

Deivon Smith is starting to put it together for St. John’s
After a dust up in late-November during a trip to the Bahamas stunted his progress, the 6-foot Smith is now displaying the form that made him one of the sport’s most highly coveted transfers during the offseason. In his last four games, Smith — who transferred from Utah — is averaging 15 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 3.0 steals. A menace on the ball defensively, Smith has the DNA of a player that’s going to be an absolute nuisance for opposing point guards in the Big East to try and play against. The Red Storm are 11-2 and will next play Creighton on Tuesday in Omaha.

Denver Jones is Auburn’s unsung presence
Bruce Pearl’s team has been arguably college basketball’s most impressive squad so far this season and possesses several different pieces that can dethrone an opponent. One that isn’t receiving enough attention is the 6-4 Jones, whose all-around growth has allowed Pearl to use him as his starting point guard all while giving the Tigers more positional size on the perimeter. A gifted scorer during the first two years of his college career when he was at Florida International, Jones has maintained his offensive prowess while now balancing his new role in helping facilitate Auburn’s offense. In last week’s 18-point win over Purdue, Jones had four assists and just a single turnover in 27 minutes of work. He’s also scored in double figures in nine of his last 10 games and is a whopping 15-26 from three-point range in his last four outings. The Tigers will host Monmouth tonight in their final tuneup before SEC play.

Big 12 play begins
The new 16-team league format gets going tonight as eight different teams take the floor with four quality matchups: Cincinnati/Kansas State (7 PM ET, CBS Sports Network), Houston at Oklahoma State, TCU at Arizona, and Iowa State at Colorado (9 PM ET, CBS Sports Network). The Big 12 isn’t getting as much attention nationally as the SEC and the Big Ten, but that doesn’t mean that it’s still not one heck of a conference. The league needs more out of Arizona if it’s going to augment its potential representation in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats enter tonight’s game against TCU in Tucson at just 6-5 and without a power conference win this season.

On The Side

  • Ohio State’s record is a bit receiving. The Buckeyes are 5-1 this season with Aaron Bradshaw in the lineup and 4-3 when is not. The lone loss for the Buckeyes with Bradshaw? A road defeat at Texas A&M.
  • Marquette is plus 30 this season when Stevie Mitchell (11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals) has been on the floor against power conference opponents and Dayton.
  • The SEC did Texas no favors with its early league schedule. The Longhorns will open conference play at Texas A&M and then return home to face Auburn and Tennessee back-to-back. Those games are following by trips to both Oklahoma and Florida. Yikes!
  • Georgia’s 12-1 start is its best since the 1930-31 season.
  • Oakland’s Malcolm Christie has attempted 118 field goals this season — 109 have been three-point shots. The Golden Grizzlies will next face Arkansas tonight at Bud Walton Arena.

Daily Specials

  • Columbia at Rutgers
  • Cincinnati at Kansas State
  • Houston at Oklahoma State
  • TCU at Arizona
  • Iowa State at Colorado

Leftovers