College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Kentucky/Auburn, Kansas visits the Octagon of Doom, Johnny Juzang

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

Kentucky/Auburn
Bruce Pearl told College Hoops Today on Thursday that this is the biggest regular season game that he’s coached since he was hired at Auburn in 2014. He also said that it’s one of the four biggest regular season games that he’s coached in his entire career. It’s hard to argue with that type of proclamation. The Tigers were nearly voted first in the AP Top 25 last week for the first time in program history and enter today’s game against at 17-1, with their only loss coming against UConn in double overtime at the Battle 4 Atlantis in November. Beating an opponent the caliber of Kentucky (15-3) would only enhance Auburn’s burgeoning basketball brand. Tip off for this game is at 1 PM ET on CBS.

Kansas visits the Octagon of Doom
Bill Self and Bruce Weber are forever tied to one another. When Self left Illinois to take the Kansas job in 2003, Weber replaced him and took a team that Self recruited to the 2005 national title game. Seven years later, Weber took the Kansas State job and became Self’s in-state rival. Things have not always been amicable. They won’t be today either. Kansas State (10-7) is playing its best basketball of the season after being ravaged by COVID and has beaten Texas Tech and Texas back-to-back. Beating Kansas (15-2) at home for its third straight win would only enhance the Wildcats’ momentum. It will be interesting to see if Weber’s guard heavy attack with Markquis Nowell, Mark Smith, Mike McGuirl., and Selton Miguel can continue to be effective against the Jayhawks’ perimeter, which features a pair of All-American candidates in Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun. Self is 6-3 against Weber in games played that have played at Kansas State.

Johnny Juzang is taking his game to another level
This is the player that we saw during last year’s NCAA Tournament. Leaner, quicker, and stronger than he was a year ago, Juzang is also more efficient offensively. The 6-7 junior is averaging 25 points over UCLA’s last three games while shooting an impressive 60 percent from the field and 46 percent from three-point range. Juzang has also gotten to the free throw line 25 times during that span and has made 21 of those attempts. The Bruins will need this type of performance from Juzang — as well as help from others — if they’re going to beat a capable Colorado team tonight in Boulder. UCLA is far from full strength and narrowly escaped Thursday night at Utah without both Jaylen Clark (non COVID illness) and David Singleton (concussion). This is a trap game for the Bruins, who have a showdown against Arizona looming on Tuesday in Westwood.

On The Side

  • One thing that I didn’t think I’d write a month ago? The winner of today’s game between Florida State (12-5) and Miami (14-4) will be in sole possession of first place in the ACC.
  • Chevez Goodwin isn’t Evan Mobley or Onyeka Okongwu, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not doing an incredible job rebounding for USC. The 6-9 big man has grabbed 37 boards in his last three games, including 18 in Thursday’s win at Colorado.
  • San Diego State (10-3) will play its first game since Jan. 8th when it hosts Boise State tonight at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs have missed the past few weeks of action due to a COVID pause while the Broncos have won 11 straight games. Tip off for tonight’s game is at 9:30 PM on CBS Sports Network.
  • College basketball’s longest winning streak belongs to Davidson (15-2), who has won 14 straight games and hasn’t lost since Nov. 18th. Bob McKillop’s squad visits Fordham today in the Bronx.
  • St. John’s (10-6) needs at least a split out of its home-and-home series with Seton Hall (11-5) over the next few days. Following two games between the two teams over the next 60 hours, the Red Storm will then visit Villanova. St. John’s and Seton Hall begin their unique scheduling marriage today at Madison Square Garden.

Daily Specials

  • Kentucky at Auburn
  • Kansas at Kansas State
  • Baylor at Oklahoma
  • LSU at Tennessee
  • UCLA at Colorado

Leftovers