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The Breakfast Buffet: Drew Timme, a battle of elite big men in West Lafayette, Providence

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

Drew Timme is on a massive tear
This another reminder not to take this guy for granted. Timme has put up major numbers for the majority of the past three seasons, but this recent stretch reached another level. In Timme’s last seven games, he’s averaging 27.3 points and 9.7 rebounds while shooting an astronomical 70 percent from the field. Expect this type of production level to continue now that Gonzaga will play the rest of its regular season games against teams from the WCC.

A battle of elite big men in West Lafayette
Everyone knows about Purdue’s Zach Edey, but Rutgers also has a special center in Cliff Omoruyi. While the 7-5 Edey — who’s averaging 21.9 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks — is the consensus favorite for National Player of the Year, Omoruyi has also played like an All-Big Ten First-Team caliber player. The 6-11 junior is averaging career highs in points (15), rebounds (10.1), and blocks (1.8) entering tonight’s game in West Lafayette. The Boilers — who are 13-0 — are one of two remaining undefeated teams in college basketball along with New Mexico.

Providence is separating itself as the “fifth team” in the Big East
For two months, the Big East has had four known commodities in UConn, Creighton, Xavier, and Marquette. The Friars now appear ready to join that party. Providence’s winning streak reached seven games after Sunday’s win at DePaul and Ed Cooley’s team is now 12-3 overall and 4-0 in Big East play entering Wednesday’s game against UConn in Rhode Island. This program has advanced to six of the last eight NCAA Tournaments under Cooley’s stewardship and another trip seems well within reach this season. The Friars haven’t lost since Nov. 30th at TCU.

On The Side

  • Kansas is 31-6 under Bill Self against Big 12 opponents at Allen Fieldhouse in games that have been decided by five points or fewer or went to overtime.
  • Duke’s Ryan Young is 31 rebounds away from tying his season total from last year at Northwestern. The 6-10 center is averaging 7.1 rebounds, which is the highest rebounding average of his college career.
  • Kentucky (9-4) still has eight regular season games remaining against teams that were ranked in last week’s AP Top 25. Four of those games will be played at Rupp Arena.
  • It feels like Jerome Hunter is on the verge of essentially becoming a “sixth starter” for Xavier. The 6-8 senior is averaging 11.3 points and 6.7 rebounds over his last three games and had 15 points and five rebounds in Saturday’s win over UConn at the Cintas Center.
  • San Jose State already has three more wins this season — 11 — than it had during all of last year when it only won eight games. Tim Miles’ squad has won five of its last six games and is in a four-way tie with New Mexico, San Diego State, and Nevada for first place in the Mountain West.

Daily Specials

  • Rutgers at Purdue
  • West Virginia at Oklahoma State

Leftovers