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The Breakfast Buffet: Gonzaga’s athleticism, Pac-12 needs UCLA, WCC

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

Gonzaga’s athleticism will test Iowa
Iowa is currently the top offensive team in college basketball and leads the nation in both scoring and assists, but its defense is going to be pushed today against Gonzaga. The Bulldogs’ perimeter quartet of Jalen Suggs, Joel Ayayi, Corey Kispert, and Andrew Nembhard possesses the type of bounce and athleticism that could make things problematic for Iowa in terms of keeping the ball out of the paint. Keep an eye on Hawkeyes sophomore Joe Toussaint, a reserve guard whose defensive ability could play a major role against Gonzaga. Iowa has won all of six of its games this season by double-figures, but it remains to be seen how consistent and capable this team is defensively against elite competition. This is a Final Four caliber game in Sioux Falls. Tip off is at Noon ET on CBS.

The Pac-12 desperately needs UCLA to beat Ohio State
COVID-19 deprived this conference of several key non-conference opportunities. The league also hasn’t had many quality early wins outside of the Bruins’ victory over Marquette and Oregon’s win over Seton Hall. UCLA’s only loss came against San Diego State and that defeat occurred when the Bruins had two starting caliber players — Johnny Juzang and Jalen Hill — out with injury. If Mick Cronin’s team improves to 6-1 overall and 6-0 at full strength with a win over Ohio State today, it won’t just elevate UCLA — it will elevate the entire Pac-12. Oregon’s only loss also came when it was shorthanded. The Ducks’ fell to Missouri before St. John’s transfer LJ Figueroa was cleared to play by the NCAA.

The WCC picked up another big win
This league is much more than just Gonzaga. BYU’s win at San Diego State on Friday joins San Francisco’s November triumph over Virginia as two massive victories that will travel for the WCC all the way to Selection Sunday. Don’t be surprised if this league again pushes for three bids to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Entering Saturday, the WCC was a combined 44-17 as a conference.

On The Side

  • Something to keep an eye on today? Teams coming off long layoffs due to COVID-19. Gonzaga hasn’t played since it beat West Virginia in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 2nd. And Louisville? The Cardinals visit Wisconsin in a makeup game from the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and haven’t taken the floor against another opponent since Dec. 1st when it beat Western Kentucky.
  • North Carolina and Kentucky have a combined 136 assists to 183 turnovers entering today’s game in the CBS Sports Classic. It will be interesting to see if either of these blue blood programs can get quality guard play in a tilt that both teams need to win.
  • Western Kentucky’s Charles Bassey is averaging 16.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, and four blocks entering today’s game at Alabama. The Hilltoppers already own wins over Memphis, Northern Iowa, and Rhode Island. This is the sleeper game of the day in college basketball.
  • Kansas’ entire offensive flow is significantly better when Dajuan Harris is on the floor. You can’t measure this kid’s impact with a box score. The 6-1 freshman logged 24 minutes in Thursday night’s win at Texas Tech and has the chops to give the Jayhawks a unique dual point guard attack when he plays alongside Marcus Garrett. 
  • The best transfer in college basketball that nobody’s really talking about is Oregon’s Eric Williams. The 6-6 forward has been rock solid for the Ducks as a starter and is averaging 14.2 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 46.7 percent from the field. Williams has scored in double-figures in every single game this season and hasn’t grabbed less than six rebounds. He averaged 14 points and 7.6 boards two seasons ago at Duquesne before redshirting last year.

Daily Specials

  • Gonzaga/Iowa (Sioux Falls)
  • Louisville at Wisconsin
  • Kentucky/North Carolina (CBS Sports Classic)
  • Ohio State/UCLA (CBS Sports Classic)
  • Purdue/Notre Dame (Crossroads Classic)

Leftovers: