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
Rick Barnes is bringing out the best in Ja’Kobi Gillespie
The Hall-of-Fame head coach has had his best teams during his career when he’s had elite point guard play and Gillespie looks like he could be next in line at the most important position on the floor. The Maryland transfer is averaging 27.0 points and 4.0 assists through two games at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas and is a whopping 9-19 from three-point range during that span. Remember: Barnes’ lone Final Four appearance came in 2003 at Texas when TJ Ford — the National Player of the Year — anchored the point of attack. He also went to the Elite Eight in each of the past two seasons at Tennessee with Zakai Zeigler as his primary floor general. The Vols will conclude things in Las Vegas today against Kansas.
Bennett Stirtz made a statement against Ole Miss
Iowa’s first real test of the season brought out the best in Stirtz, who scored 29 points and only had one turnover in a 74-69 win over Ole Miss in the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs. An All-American last season when he was at Drake, Stirtz followed Ben McCollum from the Missouri Valley to the Big Ten and there’s been absolutely no drop off in his game. He was also 6-8 from three-point range against the Rebels, who again look like an NCAA Tournament team under Chris Beard.
The Battle 4 Atlantis gets going in the Bahamas
The field for this tournament clearly isn’t as good as it’s been in the past, but there’s still five teams in this event — Saint Mary’s, South Florida, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, and VCU — that could wind up playing in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. South Florida and VCU look like strong candidates to earn automatic bids out of the American Conference and the Atlantic 10 respectively. Saint Mary’s, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech are all currently ranked in the ROTHSTEIN 45.
On The Side
- T.J. Otzelberger has averaged 23.8 wins during his first four seasons as Iowa State’s head coach. The Cyclones will play Syracuse today in their final game of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
- Michigan State’s Carson Cooper has already tallied four games this season in double figures — he only had two during all of last season.
- St. John’s best lineup may very well be with Dillon Mitchell as a point forward. The 6-8 senior has 16 assists and just three turnovers this season and had an impressive 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists in Tuesday’s win over Baylor in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. The Red Storm will meet Auburn today in Sin City.
- USC has won all three of its last three games by three points or fewer. The Trojans are 6-0 and will face Arizona State today in the title game of the Maui Invitational.
- Creighton and Marquette have appeared in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments, but they’re a combined 0-5 this season against power conference caliber opponents.
Daily Specials
- Syracuse/Iowa State
- Notre Dame/Houston
- Kansas/Tennessee
- St. John’s/Auburn
- Gonzaga/Michigan
Leftovers
- The Breakfast Buffet: Tobe Awaka, Nebraska’s defense, Texas/Kentucky
- INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW (1/20): Guest — Virginia’s Ryan Odom
- The Breakfast Buffet: Michigan returns home, Seton Hall/St. John’s, Kansas hits the road at Colorado
- INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW (1/19): Florida, Kentucky, The ACC, The Big East, JT Toppin, Darryn Peterson
- The Breakfast Buffet: Brad Brownell, Florida, St. John’s is thriving on the road
