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The Breakfast Buffet: Denzel Aberdeen, Purdue visits Michigan State, Texas A&M

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

Denzel Abeerdeen is Florida’s unsung perimeter presence
Many teams that have won a national title over the last decade have boasted a dynamic scorer off the bench. That’s the role that Aberdeen has carved out for the Gators. Pressed into extended minutes recently when Alijah Martin was out of the lineup due to a hip injury, the 6-5 Aberdeen performed at an incredibly high level as he averaged 16.3 points in his last four outings. Florida is 22-3 and will return to action tonight against Oklahoma in Gainesville.

Purdue visits Michigan State
Matt Painter and Tom Izzo are the two longest tenured head coaches in the Big Ten and their two programs are both coming off emotional results over the weekend. The Boilers gave up 94 points in Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin at Mackey Arena while the Spartans beat Illinois in Champaign and the win made Izzo the Big Ten’s all-time winningest head coach. The Big Ten has several teams that are very good, but it still remains to be seen if there’s a strong contender for the Final Four out of this conference. Both of these teams are on the short list.

Texas A&M has been a road warrior
The Aggies are 4-3 in true road games this season entering tonight’s matchup with Mississippi State in Starkville, but that record doesn’t include a win against Purdue at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in December. That’s the mark of a team that’s built to play deep in the NCAA Tournament. Aside from a road loss at Rupp Arena against Kentucky, Texas A&M’s other two road defeats came by a combined four points against UCF and Texas. This team looks like it’s primed to give Buzz Williams his best chance to reach the Final Four as a head coach.

On The Side

  • Rick Pitino has never won Big East Coach of the Year honors during his Hall-of-Fame career, but that may very well change this season if St. John’s wins the league’s regular season title.
  • Maryland has scored 184 points in its last two games. 178 of those points have been scored by the Terps’ starters.
  • UCLA’s Mick Cronin can earn his 500th career win tonight against Minnesota.
  • Brad Underwood announced on Monday that Illinois big man Morez Johnson is out indefinitely following a wrist injury. This 6-9 freshman averages 7.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. The Illini will visit Madison tonight to face Wisconsin.
  • Florida’s Todd Golden was this week’s guest on the College Hoops Today Podcast.

Daily Specials

  • Oklahoma at Florida
  • Purdue at Michigan State
  • Texas A&M at Mississippi State
  • Illinois at Wisconsin
  • Kansas at BYU

Leftovers