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The Breakfast Buffet: Kofi Cockburn, LSU built to win ugly, Villanova looking for revenge against Creighton

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

Kofi Cockburn’s production level should not be taken for granted
It’s hard to be overlooked when you’re 7-feet and 285 pounds, but it feels like Cockburn’s stellar season hasn’t gotten the type of attention that it deserves. That won’t be the case in this space. Following his 29-point, 10-rebound performance in Illinois’ 76-53 win over Minnesota on Tuesday night, Cockburn is now averaging 25 points and 11.7 rebounds in his last three games. He’s also shooting 62.2 percent from the field during that span. Cockburn came back to Illinois for his junior season to do historical things — he’s doing just that. No one should be taking it for granted. The Illini are 11-3 and 4-0 in Big Ten play.

LSU is built to win ugly
This team is the polar opposite of last year’s squad that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and lost to Michigan. Unlike the unit that had Javonte Smart, Cam Thomas, and Trendon Watford as a lethal offensive troika, this rendition of LSU is built with length, toughness, and tenacity. All of this was reiterated by its 65-60 win over Kentucky on Tuesday night in Baton Rouge. The Tigers erased a nine-point second half deficit and finished the game on a 16-4 run based on their defense and ability to disrupt the opponent. This was all readily apparent when Xavier Pinson had a massive deflection in the game’s final seconds which led to a game-clinching dunk. LSU needs to do a better job with its ball security — it has 32 turnovers in its last two games — and still needs to improve offensively, but its 13-1 record proves that it’s built to win ugly.

Villanova looks for revenge against Creighton
The Wildcats lost by 20 to the Bluejays on Dec. 17th in Omaha and have won two straight games since. Tonight, they’ll look to exert some payback at home. It may seem a little out of the ordinary for Villanova (9-4) to have four losses in the first week of January, but people need to remember that this team played arguably the toughest non-conference schedule of the Jay Wright era in November and December. Villanova could have easily won games it lost against both UCLA and Purdue; if it did, its national perception would likely be vastly different. Tonight’s game against Creighton begins a stretch where the Wildcats will play six of their next eight games at Finneran Pavilion. Don’t be shocked if this is the start of very productive January on the Main Line.

On The Side

  • Iowa’s Keegan Murray (24.5 points) and Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis (22.3 points) are currently the two top scorers in college basketball. Neither averaged in double figures last season. Anarchy? Nope. Just College Basketball.
  • Texas Tech’s lack of reliable point guard play remains its biggest question. The Red Raiders only have 183 assists to 168 turnovers as a team entering tonight’s game at Iowa State (12-1).
  • Michigan now has more losses — six — than it did all of last season.
  • It’s not fair to call St. John’s (8-3) game tonight against DePaul a “must win” because the Red Storm haven’t played since Dec. 18th due to COVID, but it’s really important. Following tonight’s tilt in Queens, St. John’s will play back-to-back road games at Providence and UConn.
  • San Diego State has an emerging piece in 6-7 junior Keshad Johnson. Like many previous wings in the Aztecs’ program, Johnson has tremendous length and athleticism all while boasting the ability to cover ground quickly on both sides of the floor. He’s averaging 11.5 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks in his last two games.

Daily Specials

  • Nebraska at Michigan State
  • Alabama at Florida
  • Houston at South Florida
  • Creighton at Villanova
  • Texas Tech at Iowa State

Leftovers