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
Duke’s defense deserves more attention
A 27-2 record is one thing. Taking away the opposition’s ability to get any semblance of offense going is another. In the Blue Devils’ last 10 games, only North Carolina has scored more than 65 points. During that 10-game span, Jon Scheyer’s team is allowing an average of just 57.2 points. Duke will look to continue that trend tonight against NC State in Raleigh.
Grant McCasland is coaching his tail off
Not many head coaches could lose a first-team All-American in JT Toppin (21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds) and still win three straight games in the Big 12. That’s what McCasland has done over the past week and a half. After losing Toppin for the season due to an ACL injury, McCasland has rallied the Red Raiders and led them to one of the season’s most impressive victories on Saturday against Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum. There’s not many coaches in the sport doing a better job than this guy. Texas Tech firmly remains in play to be one of the top 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday.
Brayden Burries has been surgical for Arizona
There’s incredibly efficient basketball and then there’s what Burries has done in his last two games. After dealing with an illness two Saturdays ago against Houston, the 6-4 freshman reiterated why he may ultimately be the driving force that gets this program to its first Final Four since 2001. In back-to-back wins over Baylor and Kansas last week, Burries averaged 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while shooting a ridiculous 60.9 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range. The Wildcats are 27-2 entering tonight’s game against Iowa State in Tucson.
On The Side
- Michigan’s Morez Johnson already has 14 more rebounds — 214 — than he did during all of last season when he was a freshman at Illinois.
- Is Cincinnati the sleeper team to watch heading into the Big 12 Tournament? The Bearcats have won five of their last six games and the one loss during that stretch was at Texas Tech. Keep an eye on Wes Miller’s club, who’s 16-13 and will next host BYU on Tuesday at Fifth Third Arena.
- DePaul is two wins away from finishing .500 or better in Big East play for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Don’t rule out Chris Holtmann as a Big East Coach of the Year candidate.
- Steve Donahue deserves credit for the job he’s doing at St. Joe’s this season. The Hawks are 19-10 and could finish in the top four of the Atlantic 10 for the first time since 2016.
- Today’s edition of INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW will be LIVE on CBS Sports Network at 1 PM ET.
Daily Specials
- Duke at NC State
- Iowa State at Arizona
