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
Josh Hubbard and Mississippi State visit Rupp Arena
And that’s enough of a reason to give Kentucky fans added anxiety after an already disappointing 9-6 start. The 6-foot guard is scoring the basketball at a ridiculous rate and averaging 34.0 points through the Bulldogs’ first two SEC games. There’s still plenty of time for the Wildcats to turn their season around, but Wednesday night’s loss to Missouri was a tough, tough blow to take, especially at home in Lexington. To make matters worse for Kentucky, Jayden Quaintance will miss tonight’s game due to an undisclosed injury, according to Friday night’s SEC Injury Report. The Wildcats need to get on a run — quickly.
Murderer’s Row continues for TCU
The Horned Frogs suffered a heartbreaking loss earlier this week at Kansas in overtime and will host Arizona today in Fort Worth before traveling to Provo for a game against BYU on Tuesday. That’s three games over an eight-day span against three teams that could Top 16 seeds on Selection Sunday. TCU is due for a big win at home, but has already lost three games on its home floor season, with defeats coming against New Orleans, Notre Dame, and Michigan.
SMU/Duke
The first-ever trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Ponies caps off a massive seven-day stretch which also featured games against North Carolina and Clemson. SMU clearly looks like a team that can play in the NCAA Tournament in its second season under Andy Enfield and it will be on a major showcase today in Durham. This game is also another opportunity for the nation to become familiar with Ponies lead guard Boopie Miller — who’s averaging 25.0 points, 7.5 assists, and 6.0 rebounds in SMU’s first two conference games — but according to Friday night’s ACC Injury Report, Miller is questionable with an undisclosed injury. Any hopes for the Ponies today hinges with Miller being both in the lineup and effective.
On The Side
- Four of Kansas’ next seven games are on the road and two of the Jayhawks’ home games during that span are against Iowa State and BYU. Yikes!
- Steven Pearl was six months old when John Calipari was hired as UMass’ head coach in 1988. Today, the two will go head-to-head as SEC head coaches when Arkansas visits Auburn. America!
- UCLA’s Donovan Dent (13.5 points, 6.5 assists) is just 2-22 from three-point range this season entering tonight’s game in Westwood against Maryland.
- St. John’s has lost its last two games against Creighton in Omaha by a combined two points. The Red Storm will go for their second third straight road victory this afternoon against the Bluejays.
- Is Stanford going to push for an NCAA Tournament berth in Year 2 under Kyle Smith? The Cardinal have won back-to-back games against Louisville and Virginia Tech entering today’s game against Virginia in Charlottesville. Keep an eye on this team.
Daily Specials
- Nebraska at Indiana
- Tennessee at Florida
- Wisconsin at Michigan
- SMU at Duke
- Arizona at TCU
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
