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The Breakfast Buffet: Jaylin Stewart, Kansas has a dangerous game at UCF, Indiana visits the The Palestra to face Penn State

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

UConn needs Jaylin Stewart to step up with Liam McNeeley out of the lineup
Dan Hurley announced on Saturday that the 6-7 McNeeley — who averages 13.6 points and 5.8 rebounds — will miss the next few weeks with a high ankle sprain. That means that the 6-7 Stewart — who was pegged as a breakout candidate prior to the season — has to give the Huskies consistent production with McNeeley out of the lineup. Earlier this week, I wrote about how both Stewart and fellow sophomore Jayden Ross were critical to UConn’s overall ceiling this season; they’re both even more critical now —- especially Stewart. The 6-7 forward is averaging 5.0 points and 2.5 rebounds entering today’s game against Providence in Storrs, but has only scored a combined two points in his last three games. He had 10 points in 19 minutes in a win over Gonzaga at MSG on Dec. 14th. Stewart’s time is now.

Kansas has a dangerous game at UCF
The Jayhawks are limping a bit after Tuesday’s home loss to West Virginia at Allen Fieldhouse. The Knights meanwhile, are thriving after scoring 87 points earlier in the week in a road win at Texas Tech. Johnny Dawkins’ squad had the look of a Big 12 sleeper in the preseason and now that it’s finally healthy, UCF has the requisites to make a run towards an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. This is going to be a very difficult game for Kansas, who’s still searching for perimeter offense aside from Zeke Mayo (14.7 points). The Knights meanwhile, currently have three different players — Keyshawn Hall, Jordan Ivy-Curry, and Darius Johnson — averaging between 15 and 16 points. 

Indiana visits The Palestra to face Penn State
The Nittany Lions’ annual tradition to give up one of their Big Ten home games for a date in one of the sport’s most hallowed venues has turned into a date that every college basketball junkie circles on the calendar. Mike Rhoades’ squad has NCAA Tournament aspirations after its 12-2 start and will have another chance to earn a win over a quality opponent when it plays Indiana today in Philadelphia. Keep a close eye on the Hoosiers’ alignment. A knee injury to veteran big man Malik Reneau in Thursday’s win over Rutgers forced Mike Woodson to play smaller and use 6-9 sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako at power forward alongside 7-1 center Oumar Ballo. Indiana’s spacing, rhythm, and chemistry and offense was instantly improved. The Hoosiers have yet to claim a Quad 1 victory this season.

On The Side

  • Tennesse’s Igor Milicic is averaging 11.1 points and 9.0 rebounds in seven games this season against power conference opponents. A transfer from Charlotte, the 6-10 Milicic is the unsung presence in the Vols’ 14-0 start.
  • Is Braden Smith eventually going to get his number retired at Mackey Arena? Don’t rule it out of the realm of possibility. Purdue’s All-American point guard is averaging 27.0 points and 5.0 rebounds during his last two games. His assist-to-turnover ratio during that span? 22:2. The Boilers will host Northwestern this afternoon at Mackey Arena.
  • St. John’s is just 9-58 from three-point range in four Big East games. That’s 15.5 percent.
  • Illinois has more than three players averaging in double figures for the first time in the Brad Underwood era. The Illini currently have five guys — Kasparas Jakucionis, Tomislav Ivisic, Will Riley, Kylan Boswell, and Tre White — all averaging 10 or more points entering today’s Big Ten showdown against Washington in Seattle.
  • I’ve felt for years that late morning starts on weekends was an untapped window for college basketball. We saw the upside on Saturday when Kentucky faced Florida. The 10 AM-11 AM ET window is golden on the weekends. Let’s hope some conferences take advantage in the near future.

Daily Specials

  • Indiana/Penn State (The Palestra)
  • Providence at UConn
  • Northwestern at Purdue
  • Kansas at UCF
  • Maryland at Oregon

Leftovers