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The Breakfast Buffet: Johnny Davis, Kentucky visits LSU, Kansas State searching for a breakthrough

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

Johnny Davis sent a message against Purdue
This was as good of an individual road performance in the Big Ten as I’ve seen in over 15 years on this beat. The 6-5 Davis went for 37 points and 14 rebounds on Monday night while shooting 13-24 from the field and 2-5 from three-point range in Wisconsin’s 74-69 victory over Purdue at Mackey Arena. He also a sent a direct message to the rest of the sport that he’s one of the best guards in the country and a bonafide candidate to be a first-team All-American. It’s time to start mentioning Davis alongside other elite perimeter players in the sport like Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji, Arizona’s Benn Mathurin, Duke’s Wendell Moore, and Purdue’s Jaden Ivey.

Kentucky visits LSU
For years, John Calipari’s teams have always made their biggest jumps after the Christmas break due to the extended practice time. We’ll see if that theme continues tonight in Baton Rouge against LSU (12-1). Kentucky (11-2) enters tonight’s tilt on a four-game winning streak, with an average margin of victory of 33.3 points. The four opponents during that span — North Carolina, Western Kentucky, Missouri, and High Point — are all unranked in this week’s AP Top 25. LSU (12-1) should present a stern test. The Tigers are limited offensively compared to past years and need to improve their ball security, but this team is elite defensively. Through 13 games, the Tigers are holding opponents to an average of 55.3 points. Will Wade’s squad needs to hold serve tonight at home if it wants to keep pace in the SEC.

Kansas State searches for a breakthrough
With a win tonight at home against Texas (11-2), the Wildcats — who are currently 8-4 — will tie their win total from all of last season. Kansas State is tangibly improved from a year ago, but still needs a signature victory to be legitimately considered as a threat to finish near the middle of the Big 12 standings. A win tonight over the Longhorns in the “Octagon of Doom” would accomplish just that. Kansas State’s four losses have come by an average of 4.8 points and all of them came against quality competition in Arkansas, Illinois, Marquette, and Oklahoma. The Wildcats have capable guards in Nijel Pack (15.1 points), Mark Smith (10.7 points, 8.6 rebounds), and Markquis Nowell (12.8 points, 4.9 assists, four rebounds), who missed Saturday’s game at Oklahoma due to COVID protocols. All three — or whoever inherits Nowell’s minutes if he is unavailable — need to be elite for Kansas State to overcome Texas’ balance. The Longhorns currently have seven different players averaging between 7.2 points and 11.6 points.

On The Side

  • Arizona’s Dalen Terry is emerging as one of the top utility players in the sport. The 6-7 wing had 13 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists in Monday night’s 95-79 win over Washington. Remember the name.
  • Providence (13-1) is 4-0 this season in game decided by five points or less. The Friars will try and extend their winning streak to nine tonight at Marquette.
  • Dick Bennett — the father of Virginia head coach Tony Bennett — was a major influence on how Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger approaches things defensively as a coach. “Growing up in Wisconsin — I’m a huge fan of the Bennett family,” Otzelberger said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast. “For me, a lot of my mentality and background is based on defense and how you construct your defense.” Iowa State (12-1) has held its first 13 opponents to an average of 57.7 points.
  • Indiana needs more out of Northwestern transfer Miller Kopp. The 6-7 forward is only averaging 4.7 points over his last six games. Kopp has only reached double figures three times this season in 13 games.
  • I fully understand how difficult scheduling is when league offices are trying to reschedule games due to COVID, but five ranked teams — Auburn, LSU, Kentucky, Baylor, and Texas — will be playing tonight in the 7 PM ET window. Another — Seton Hall — tips off at 8 PM ET against Butler on CBS Sports Network. This isn’t good for the sport. I’ll say it again: College basketball needs more standalone games.

Daily Specials

  • Auburn at South Carolina
  • Kentucky at LSU
  • Oklahoma at Baylor
  • Kansas at Oklahoma State
  • Seton Hall at Butler

Leftovers