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The Breakfast Buffet: Florida Atlantic returns to action, Yves Missi, Chris Ledlum

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

Florida Atlantic returns to action
It’s been 221 days since the Owls lost at the buzzer against San Diego State in the Final Four. The road to go back begins tonight in the second ever Barstool Sports Invitational against Loyola Chicago at Wintrust Arena. Florida Atlantic returns everyone of significance from last season’s 35-win team except for veteran guard Michael Forrest, who averaged 8.2 points a year ago.

Yves Missi was the difference for Baylor against Auburn
On a day where many people tuned in to see elite freshmen like the Bears’ Ja’Kobe Walter and the Tigers’ Aden Holloway, no first-year player impacted Tuesday night’s game in Sioux Falls more than the 6-10 Missi. The freshman big man completely changed things for Baylor in the second half by protecting the rim on defense and attacking the rim through the paint on offense. Missi finished with 10 points and two blocked shots, but the totality of his impact couldn’t truly felt just by reading a box score. The Bears outscored Auburn 54-39 in the second half en route to a six-point victory.

Chris Ledlum will be the Big East’s version of Grant Williams
The Staten Island native operated in relative obscurity for the past few seasons while he was at Harvard, despite averaging 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds a year ago during his final season with the Crimson. He’s firmly in the spotlight now after transferring to St. John’s. The 6-6 power forward had 16 points and 14 rebounds in his debut with the Red Storm on Tuesday night against Stony Brook and looked like the best player on the floor. Like Williams — who played collegiately at Tennessee before heading to the NBA — the undersized Ledlum does his work below the rim and uses angles exceptionally well around the basket. He’ll be a major factor for St. John’s in the Big East. The Red Storm are now 1-0 and will next face Michigan on Monday at Madison Square Garden as part of the Gavitt Games.

On The Side

  • Purdue had 29 assists on 34 made field goals in Monday night’s 53-point win over Samford. No player on the Boilers’ roster took more than nine shots.
  • Jamiya Neal is the player to watch in tonight’s matchup between Arizona State and Mississippi State in Chicago. The 6-6 Neal averaged 9.6 points while shooting 54.8 percent from the field in five postseason games last spring. This is an under-the-radar breakout guy to monitor nationally. This game is the second installment of the 2023 Barstool Sports Invitational.
  • It was only one game, but Creighton’s offense looked awfully special against Florida A&M. The Bluejays scored 105 points in the 51-point win and made 18 three-point shots. This team looks like it has better chemistry than it had a year ago, when it lost by a point in the Elite Eight to San Diego State.
  • Five of Memphis’ next six games could be against power conference opponents. The Tigers will visit Missouri on Friday then return home to play Alabama State before heading to the Battle 4 Atlantis where they will open the event against Michigan. Memphis will then visit Ole Miss following its trip to the Bahamas. Yikes!
  • Kobe Johnson is to this season’s USC team what Jaylen Clark was to UCLA a year ago. The 6-6 Johnson had 16 points and eight rebounds in the Trojans’ win over Kansas State on Monday night in Las Vegas and as usual, was all over the court defensively. This is the best perimeter defender in the Pac-12.

Daily Specials

  • Canisius at Syracuse
  • Florida Atlantic/Loyola Chicago (Chicago)
  • Arizona State/Mississippi State (Chicago)

Leftovers