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The Breakfast Buffet: Mark Williams, Memphis, David McCormack

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

Mark Williams was the difference for Duke against Gonzaga
On a day where the world was focused on the individual battle between the Blue Devils’ Paolo Banchero and the Bulldogs’ Chet Holmgren — the two players most are anticipating will be two of the top picks in the 2022 NBA Draft —- no one stood taller than Williams. The 7-foot, 240 pound sophomore had 17 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks in Duke’s 84-81 win over Gonzaga on Friday night in Las Vegas and at times looked dominant around the rim. His potential emergence is another major reason why Duke could win a national title in the final season of Mike Krzyzewski’s storied career.

Memphis’ deficiencies were exposed against Iowa State
We’ve seen this movie before. This rendition of the Tigers is by far the most talented that Penny Hardaway has had since he’s been the head coach of his alma mater, but many of the old issues that have held Memphis back over the past few years again surfaced in Friday night’s 19-point loss to Iowa State at the Barclays Center. The Cyclones — who were picked last in the Big 12 Preseason Poll — had a plan, purpose, and poise. Memphis meanwhile, felt like a team without a compass. The Tigers had eight assists to 22 turnovers in the defeat and never seemed to get into an offensive rhythm. The same thing happened two nights ago against Virginia Tech, but Memphis was fortunate to escape with a close victory. Unless Hardaway can rectify the constant ball security issues that are plaguing this team, it’s hard to see the Tigers being significantly better than they’ve been over the past few seasons. Memphis has 18 assists to 36 turnovers in its last two games.

Kansas needs more out of David McCormack
Bill Self has been very candid over the past month regarding McCormack’s importance to his team. He’ll be sure to reiterate those sentiments at Saturday’s practice. The 6-11, 250 pound big man has a combined eight points and eight rebounds in Kansas’ last two games against Dayton and North Texas — two teams from non power conferences. McCormack is also 3-12 from the field during that span. The Jayhawks can’t become what they’re supposed to become without McCormack performing like an All-Big 12 caliber player. Kansas will face Iona in the consolation game of the ESPN Invitational in Orlando on Sunday after falling at the buzzer to Dayton on Friday.

On The Side

  • Through seven games, Baylor’s Kendall Brown is averaging 13.7 points while shooting an astronomical 73 percent from the field. I’ll say it again: The 6-8 Brown deserves to be recognized as one of the top freshmen in college basketball.
  • UCLA needs Jules Bernard back. In two games this week in Las Vegas, the 6-7 senior has averaged just six points while shooting 5-19 from the field and 1-8 from three-point range. The Bruins will look to bounce back today at UNLV following their blowout loss earlier this week against Gonzaga.
  • St. Bonaventure’s game today against Northern Iowa is the first of four straight tilts for the Bonnies in Olean. If Mark Schmidt’s team holds serve during this stretch, it will be 9-0 entering its Dec. 11th matchup with UConn in the Never Forget Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark.
  • The sleeper game of the night in college basketball is in Salt Lake City as Utah hosts BYU. Both teams are 5-0 overall. The Utes are in their first season under Craig Smith.
  • Prior to back-to-back wins over Miami and Kansas this week in Orlando, Dayton had lost three straight buy games to UMass Lowell, Lipscomb, and Austin Peay. Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball.

Daily Specials

  • Louisville/Maryland (Bahamas)
  • Northern Iowa at St. Bonaventure
  • UCLA at UNLV
  • LSU/Wake Forest (Emerald Coast Classic)
  • BYU at Utah

Leftovers