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The Breakfast Buffet: Iowa, Creighton/Kansas, The RAC

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

Iowa takes center stage against North Carolina
The first true act of what many believe will be a year to remember for the Hawkeyes occurs tonight in Iowa City against one of college basketball’s most historical programs. If Iowa is going to put itself in position to have one of its best seasons in school history then it needs to answer the bell when opportunities like this arise. It will be interesting to see if North Carolina’s deep assortment of big men can slow down Luka Garza, who’s averaging an astronomical 34 points and 9.7 rebounds through his first three games. Something to monitor: Roy Williams said on Monday that Garrison Brooks hasn’t been fully cleared to practice since injuring his ankle last week at the Maui Invitational. His presence is obviously something this inexperienced group of Tar Heels could use in a road game of this magnitude. 

Creighton-Kansas could be a shootout
If you like great offense, you’ll love this game. The Bluejays have consistently been one of college basketball’s top scoring teams under Greg McDermott and their small ball approach may very well mirror the makeup of this year’s Kansas squad. Bill Self has downshifted to a five-out offense for long stretches due to a lack of reliable post play and that formula could create a frenetic pace against an opponent like Creighton. Keep an eye redshirt freshman Jalen Wilson, who is currently averaging 15 points and 8.8 rebounds. This could wind up as the most entertaining game that’s played in this year’s Big East-Big 12 Battle.

Rutgers gets its first real test without fans at the RAC
The Scarlet Knights were 18-1 in games that were played in Piscataway last season and just 2-10 in games that were played away from their home floor. The RAC wasn’t the only reason why Rutgers was going to be an NCAA Tournament team last March, but it was definitely a major component. How effective will Steve Pikiell’s team be at home without fans in attendance? We’ll have a better idea after tonight’s matchup with Syracuse in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Both teams enter tonight’s game at 3-0 overall.

On The Side

  • Duke has only lost three non-conference home games since 2000. Will a fourth occur tonight? The Blue Devils host a veteran Illinois squad this evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. It will be fascinating to see how Mike Krzyzewski’s team responds nearly one week removed from a decisive loss in Durham to Michigan State.
  • UCLA’s Tyger Campbell continues to be underappreciated. The Bruins’ steady point guard had 12 assists to just one turnover in Sunday’s win over Cal and has a combined 29 assists to seven turnovers this season. Campbell led the Pac-12 in assist to turnover ratio last year as a freshman after coming off ACL surgery.
  • Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili has scored 20 or more points in three of Seton Hall’s five games. Prior to this year, the 6-11 forward only scored 20 or more points in a game three separate times in his career. Mamukelashvili is averaging 21 points and 7.6 rebounds.
  • Minnesota’s starting perimeter — Marcus Carr, Both Gach, and Gabe Kalscheur — is combining to average 63.6 percent of the Gophers’ scoring. Richard Pitino’s squad hosts Boston College tonight as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
  • The Big Ten is a combined 45-6 as a conference this season. Expect this narrative to continue all the way to Selection Sunday. This league would have had 10 teams in the NCAA Tournament last March if it wasn’t cancelled due to COVID-19 and the conference is even deeper this season.  

Daily Specials

  • Creighton at Kansas
  • Colorado at Tennessee
  • North Carolina at Iowa
  • Illinois at Duke
  • Syracuse at Rutgers

Leftovers: