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The Breakfast Buffet: Marquette, UCLA is finally whole, Brad Davison

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

Marquette is better than its record indicates
Just nine wins in 15 games has pushed the Golden Eagles off the national radar after an 8-2 start. Don’t be shocked if they return. Marquette’s six losses all came against teams — St. Bonaventure, Wisconsin, UCLA, Xavier, UConn, and Creighton — who are firmly in the NCAA Tournament picture. Shaka Smart’s team also has resume wins over Illinois, Providence, and West Virginia as well as a road victory at Kansas State. With that type of equity, 18 or 19 wins could put this team on the right side of the bubble on Selection Sunday. Eight of the Golden Eagles’ top 11 scorers are in their first year in this program. Marquette returns to action tonight at Georgetown (6-5).

UCLA is finally whole
The Bruins looked razor sharp in their first game since Dec. 11th as they topped Long Beach State by 18 on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion. But beyond UCLA’s crisp offense that saw it score 96 points and have 23 assists on 34 made field goals, something else was readily apparent with Mick Cronin’s squad: It’s finally complete. Cody Riley — who hasn’t played since the first game of the season due to a knee injury — returned against Long Beach State and tallied eight points and two rebounds while rejoining the starting lineup. An effective low post scorer, the 6-9 veteran had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists against Gonzaga last April in the Final Four. One Pac-12 head coach on Thursday anonymously called Riley an “X-Factor”. His return also allowed big 6-11 Myles Johnson to move to the bench where he should excel as a shot blocker/rim protector in reserve. This was the first time all season that we truly saw UCLA (9-1) with all hands on deck.

Brad Davison has expanded his offense
There’s more to this guy’s game than just doing the dirty work. After four years of being Wisconsin’s quintessential Glue Guy, Davison is now emerging as a bonafide secondary scoring option alongside All-American guard Johnny Davis. Davison entered Thursday night’s win over Iowa averaging a career-best 14.5 points — his highest scoring average since he was a freshman during the 2017-18 season. The 6-4 guard finished with 18 points and seven rebounds in the 87-78 win over the Hawkeyes.

On The Side

  • Kansas needs more offensively out of Jalen Wilson. The 6-8 forward has scored in double figures just once in 10 games this season and is only 2-23 from three-point range. He’s averaging just 5.5 points after averaging 11.8 points a year ago. Wilson missed the first three games of the year due to suspension related to a DWI.
  • Houston’s Fabian White has made 18 three-point shots this season. He made two during the previous four years of his college career. The 6-8 big man has become a legitimate stretch four and is shooting an impressive 38.3 percent from long distance.
  • Michigan’s next three games could either make or break its season. The Wolverines will host Michigan State and Purdue back-to-back in Ann Arbor and then will visit Illinois in Champaign. Michigan is currently 7-6 — it only had five losses during all of last season.
  • Jim Boeheim was hired as Syracuse’s head coach in 1976 and has never had a losing season. Is this the year? The Orange are just 7-7 after 14 games.
  • St. John’s is now 10-0 over the past two seasons in games where Posh Alexander makes multiple three-point shots. The Red Storm are 9-3 and will next visit Providence on Saturday.

Daily Specials

  • Marquette at Georgetown
  • Kent State at Ohio
  • Xavier at Butler

Leftovers