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The Breakfast Buffet: Mike Anderson, Wichita State steps into the spotlight, Colorado’s tough closing stretch

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

Mike Anderson is the heavy favorite to win Big East Coach of the Year
There doesn’t appear to be a close second. After surrendering 97 points in a loss at Creighton on Jan. 9th, St. John’s season has completely turned around and that’s a credit to Anderson. The Red Storm have now won eight of their last 10 games thanks to a relentless pace, a burgeoning bench, and two all-conference players in Posh Alexander and Julian Champagnie. For the first time in a long time, St. John’s program seems like it’s legitimately stable. That’s because of Anderson. The veteran coach has never had a losing season during his career and has the Red Storm in position to reach the NCAA Tournament in just his second year in Queens.

Wichita State steps into the spotlight against Houston
The Shockers have quietly had a very good season under interim coach Isaac Brown, but their time in the shadows has officially come to a close. If Wichita State (12-4) wants to put itself in a position to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, it has to beat Houston (17-2) tonight at home. The Cougars were projected as a two seed in last Saturday’s bracket reveal on CBS. The biggest keys to tonight’s game according to Brown? “Rebounding, rebounding, and rebounding,” he said on Wednesday. Kelvin Sampson’s squad is currently ranked fifth nationally in that statistical category. 

Colorado’s close to the regular season is an arduous one
Nothing about this is going to be easy. Colorado (16-6) enters tonight’s game at Oregon comfortably in the NCAA Tournament, but the Buffaloes are going to have to play better down the stretch than they’ve played recently due to an increased level of competition. Colorado is 5-3 in its last eight games, with a pair of losses coming on the road at both Washington and Cal; it’s also lost at home to Utah. None of those three teams are close to being in contention for a bid to the NCAA Tournament. After tonight’s game in Eugene, Colorado will travel to Oregon State and then return home to face both UCLA and USC. It will then close the regular season on the road at Utah. That’s five difficult games leading up to the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.

On The Side

  • Another reason to be bullish on Florida State: 10 of the Seminoles’ 13 scholarship players are juniors and seniors. Experience wins. Especially during a pandemic.
  • Michigan (14-1) gave up 82 points in its season opener against Bowling Green. It’s given up 70 or more points just four times since. One of those games was in overtime. The Wolverines will host Rutgers tonight in Ann Arbor.
  • Playing close games has been a recurring theme all season for UCLA. The Bruins are 9-3 this year in tilts decided by single digits. Mick Cronin’s squad will host Arizona tonight in Westwood.
  • San Diego State is 15-2 over the past three years in games where Nathan Mensah scores in double figures. If the Aztecs are going to be a team that goes on a run over the next month, it very well may be because Mensah emerges as a consistent third scoring option alongside Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel. 
  • This week’s series between Vermont and UMBC should be a preview of the America East title game. Both teams will enter tonight’s game in Baltimore with identical 9-3 records in league play. 

Daily Specials

  • Houston at Wichita State
  • Iowa at Wisconsin
  • Rutgers at Michigan
  • Arizona at UCLA
  • Colorado at Oregon

Leftovers: