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The Breakfast Buffet: Jon Scheyer’s first ACC road game, Isaiah Wong leads Miami against Virginia, Souley Boum

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

Jon Scheyer’s first ACC road game as Duke’s head coach
Only Gene Bartow — who succeeded John Wooden at UCLA — could probably relate to what Scheyer is enduring as the person who replaced Mike Krzyzewski as Duke’s head coach. Nevertheless, the 35-year old Scheyer has done a terrific job out of the gate in his first full season as a head coach, leading the Blue Devils to a 10-2 record entering tonight’s game at Wake Forest (8-4). Duke’s only two losses this season are against Purdue and Kansas, who were both ranked in the Top five of this week’s ROTHSTEIN 45. The Blue Devils’ last four wins have come by an average of 16 points.

Isaiah Wong leads Miami against Virginia
Teams that are coached by Tony Bennett rarely go on two-game losing streaks and that’s what the Cavaliers are going to try and avoid tonight in Coral Gables. For Miami (11-1) to hand Virginia (8-1) its second straight defeat, it’s going to have to go over the top of the Cavaliers’ defense and that’s directly related to Isaiah Wong. The 6-4 junior is averaging 16.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists and playing like an All-American. Wong also has 24 assists to just four turnovers in his last four games and is improving as a distributor. His ability to draw defenders and find open teammates for high percentage shots will be a major key to whether or not Miami can move to 2-0 in ACC play.

Souley Boum’s ability to distribute isn’t getting enough attention
The best guard in the Big East is more than just a scorer. The 6-3 Boum — who transferred to Xavier (9-3) from UTEP — has been an awesome offensive player during the first month of the season, but there is more to Boum than his ability to just put the ball in the basket. In the Musketeers’ last two games, Boum has handed out 14 assists while only committing two turnovers. Combine that with someone who’s currently second in the Big East in scoring (17.9 points) only behind UConn’s Adama Sanogo and you’ve got one heck of a player. Xavier will host Seton Hall tonight at the Cintas Center.

On The Side

  • One big thing to keep in mind regarding Texas (9-1) during Chris Beard’s suspension: In addition to acting head coach Rodney Terry — who was previously the head coach at both UTEP and Fresno State — three other members of the Longhorns’ staff — Bob Donewald (Chinese National Team), Steve McClain (Wyoming, UIC) and Chris Ogden (UT Arlington) — have been head coaches before in their careers.
  • The Big Ten may again have more teams in the NCAA Tournament than any other power conference, but that doesn’t mean that the league is going have more teams advance in the bracket once they get there. Purdue was the only Big Ten team ranked in the Top 10 of this week’s ROTHSTEIN 45.
  • Arizona State’s Desmond Cambridge is averaging 16.8 points over his last four games and looks primed to be one of the top scorers in the Pac-12. Put this guy on your radar.
  • Auburn (9-2) may have found its point guard of the future in Tre Donaldson. The 6-2 freshman completely stabilized the Tigers’ offense in Sunday’s loss at USC and is averaging nine points and two assists in his last two games in just 17.5 minutes. Auburn will next face Washington on Wednesday in Seattle.
  • UNLV’s Eli Parquet (knee) is still 4-6 weeks away from a return, Kevin Kruger said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast. The 6-4 Parquet — who transferred from Colorado — only averages 5.1 points for the Runnin Rebels, but is a valuable on-ball defender. UNLV (10-1) will wrap up its non-conference schedule on Thursday against Southern Miss.

Daily Specials

  • Georgetown at UConn
  • Duke at Wake Forest
  • Marquette at Providence
  • Virginia at Miami
  • Seton Hall at Xavier

Leftovers