College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Mike Miles, UCLA/Arizona, a contrast of styles in Durham

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 Miles visits Allen Fieldhouse
In Thursday’s edition of The Breakfast Buffet, I highlighted four players — Purdue’s Zach Edey, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, Kansas’ Jalen Wilson, and Alabama’s Brandon Miller — who had separated themselves as first-team All-Americans. Don’t be surprised if Miles makes a strong push for the fifth spot. The Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year enters today’s game against Kansas in Lawrence (1 PM ET, CBS) averaging 19.1 points, 3.3 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals while shooting an impressive 53 percent from the field. He only shot 38 percent from the field last season. Miles is in prime position to use today’s game against the Big 12’s flagship program in one of the sport’s most hallowed venues to reiterate his case as one of the best players in the sport.

UCLA/Arizona
The Bruins are coming off a dramatic win on Thursday night at Arizona State, but will they have enough juice in their tank on such a short turnaround? Arizona’s overwhelming size up front with Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo is going to make it awfully hard for UCLA (17-2) to generate points at the rim or through Jaime Jaquez in the low post. Mick Cronin is going to need guys like Tyger Campbell and David Singleton to go over the top of the Wildcats’ defense if the Bruins are going to have a chance to extend their winning streak to 15 games. UCLA made just six three-point shots on Thursday against Arizona State. In Arizona’s three losses this season, its opponents have combined to make 32 shots from long distance.

A fascinating contrast in styles in Durham
In a unique battle of speed versus size, Miami (15-3) will visit Duke (13-5) today at Cameron Indoor Stadium in what is the Blue Devils’ first game since last Saturday’s loss at Clemson. Expect a chess match of epic proportions. The Hurricanes have completely leaned into playing small and regularly use Arkansas State transfer Norchad Omier — who is only 6-7 — at center. Duke meanwhile starts three players — Mark Mitchell, Kyle Filipowski, and Ryan Young — who stand between 6-8 and 7-foot. Miami is 7-8 against Duke under Jim Larranaga.

On The Side

  • If Kansas State’s Jerome Tang — who is the clear favorite for National Coach of the Year — winds up winning the award, it will be the second consecutive season that a first-year head coach earns that distinguished title. Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd was last season’s National Coach of the Year. Both had no prior head coaching experience.
  • Virginia’s backcourt tandem of Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman have combined for 22 assists and just three turnovers in their last two games. The Cavaliers will visit a dangerous Wake Forest team today in Winston Salem. The Demon Deacons — who are 14-5 overall — already own wins this season over Duke, Wisconsin, and Clemson.
  • Xavier’s Souley Boum and Colby Jones were a combined 4-26 from the field in Wednesday’s one-point loss at DePaul. Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball. The Musketeers will host Georgetown today at the Cintas Center.
  • Wichita State transfer Dexter Dennis has grabbed 36 rebounds in his last three games for Texas A&M. The Aggies will take a seven-game winning streak into today’s matchup with Kentucky at Rupp Arena.
  • Under Mike Brey, Notre Dame has either played in the NCAA Tournament or the Postseason NIT in 18 of the last 21 years where there has been postseason play. That’s going to be a hard act to follow. A salute to Brey, who officially announced on Thursday that he will retire at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. And for the record, he’s a much better person than he is a basketball coach.

Daily Specials

  • Miami at Duke
  • TCU at Kansas
  • UCLA at Arizona
  • Virginia at Wake Forest
  • Alabama at Missouri

Leftovers