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
Melvin Council had a performance for the ages against NC State
Two years ago, Council was the best player on a Wagner team that made the NCAA Tournament. On Saturday night, he scored 36 points and made a whopping nine three-point shots as Kansas went on the road and beat NC State by a single point in overtime. With star freshman Darryn Peterson on the bench down the stretch due to a nagging hamstring injury, it was the 6-4 Council — who spent last season at St. Bonaventure — who single handedly willed the Jayhawks to victory. Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball.
Kentucky is getting healthy
Not many teams in college basketball can operate without their starting point guard and top utility guy. The Wildcats are no different. I wasn’t overly concerned with the way that Kentucky had played the past few weeks because it was so shorthanded. That changed on Saturday night at Rupp Arena when the Wildcats welcomed back Mouhamed Dioubate (14 points, 12 rebounds) to the lineup at power forward and also get a terrific game from Jaland Lowe (13 points, five rebounds) at the point of attack. Kentucky’s best basketball is still in its future, but it’s 72-60 win on Saturday night over Indiana was a major step in the right direction. This is ONLY December.
Chad Baker-Mazara is playing at an elite level for USC
Injuries to Rodney Rice (shoulder), Alijah Arenas (knee), and Amarion Dickerson (hip) have depleted the Trojans’ perimeter. Luckily for Eric Musselman, Baker-Mazara has been there to pick up the slack. The 6-7 wing — who was a starter on last season’s team at Auburn that reached the Final Four — is coming off a 31-point, six-rebound, six-assist performance earlier this week at San Diego and is averaging 21.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists entering tonight’s game against Washington State at the Galen Center. This guy is playing like one of the best players in the Big Ten.
On The Side
- Braden Smith has had six or more assists in 10 of Purdue’s first 11 games.
- Arkansas’ Trevon Brazile is averaging 22.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the Razorbacks’ two wins against Texas Tech and Louisville. Can you say X-Factor?
- Xaivian Lee is showing tangible progress for Florida. After an early season slump, the Princeton transfer has scored 19 or more points in three of the Gators’ last four games.
- St. John’s defense is improving. The Red Storm have held their last two opponents — Iona and Ole Miss — to an average of 61.0 points.
- UCLA and Gonzaga plan to renew their two-year neutral site series, a source told College Hoops Today. Official dates and locations are still TBD, but the two West Coast rivals are expected to continue to face one another beyond this season.
Daily Specials
- Saint Mary’s/Boise State
- Washington State at USC
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
