College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Mike Woodson moves the needle, Michigan State/Wisconsin, the Mountain West is in position

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 Woodson moves the needle
Woodson vowed to “bridge the gap” when he was hired as the head coach of his alma mater last spring. He took a big step on Thursday night. Indiana’s dramatic 68-65 win over Purdue at Assembly Hall was without question the biggest win that Woodson has had this season and it’s also the type of victory that immediately associates the Hoosiers with national relevancy. The most impressive thing about this triumph? It came with Indiana’s All-American big man — Trayce Jackson-Davis — limited to just 11 minutes due to foul trouble. Jackson-Davis only finished with four points and one rebound, but the Hoosiers were still able to beat a team that was ranked fourth in this week’s AP Top 25. That’s how you move the needle.

Michigan State/Wisconsin
Tom Izzo has had six days to stew over the Spartans’ overtime loss to Northwestern last Saturday in East Lansing. The only way he’ll fully get it out of his system is if Michigan State can improve its ball security tonight at the Kohl Center. The Spartans are averaging 16 turnovers over their last four games and are facing a team tonight in Wisconsin that is currently ranked first nationally in turnovers per game at 8.4. Michigan State will also have to try and find a way to slow down Johnny Davis, who continues to look like a frontrunner for National Player of the Year. The 6-5 Davis enters tonight’s game averaging 22.1 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 35.7 percent from three-point range.

The Mountain West is in position to be in position
What exactly does that mean? Much like the WCC, the Mountain West has played well enough as a conference to potentially have more representation in the NCAA Tournament than normal. As of Thursday, there were five teams from this league — Colorado State, San Diego State, Wyoming, Boise State, and Fresno State — ranked in the Top 54 of the NET rankings. By comparison, the WCC has four teams — Gonzaga, BYU, San Francisco, and Saint Mary’s — ranked in the Top 37 of the NET. Colorado State and San Diego State are currently forecasted as locks to hear their names called on Selection Sunday while Wyoming — who is 14-2 overall — is very much on the cusp. There’s a lot of basketball to be played over the next seven weeks and none of the teams listed above from the Mountain West can avoid many costly defeats, but the fact remains that as presently constituted, this league could easily have more than two teams in the NCAA Tournament. The Mountain West has not put three teams in the NCAA Tournament since 2015.

On The Side

  • None of Duke’s top six scorers — Paolo Banchero, Wendell Moore, Trevor Keels, Mark Williams, Jeremy Roach, and A.J. Griffin — have ever appeared in an NCAA Tournament game. The only members of the Blue Devils’ rotation that have are Theo John — who was a starter for Marquette when the Golden Eagles lost to Murray State in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament — and Joey Baker, who played seven minutes when Duke beat North Dakota State in the first round of the very same tournament.
  • Baylor’s James Akinjo (tailbone) and Jeremy Sochan (ankle) hope to both be back in the lineup soon, but there’s still no official set date for a return, Scott Drew told College Hoops Today this week. Both did not play in the Bears’ win at West Virginia on Tuesday. Akinjo averages 13.9 points and 5.7 assists while the 6-9 Sochan — who hasn’t played since Jan. 8th — averages 7.9 points and 5.9 rebounds. Baylor (16-2) next plays at Oklahoma on Saturday.
  • Jacob Toppin is a wildcard to watch moving forward for Kentucky. The 6-9 forward was on the floor in crunch time during Wednesday’s road win at Texas A&M and finished with nine points and six rebounds in the victory. Toppin is the brother of current NBA star and former Dayton standout Obi Toppin.
  • Greg Elliott is in the middle of a three-point shooting explosion for Marquette (13-6). The 6-3 junior is 12-19 from long distance in his last four games while averaging 14 points during that span. Elliott has already made 26 three-point shots this season — he made 30 during all of last year.
  • Northwestern’s seven losses have come by an average of 4.4 points. The Wildcats are noticeably better, but you can’t make a jump in a league like the Big Ten if you can’t win your home games; the Wildcats are 0-4 in Evanston during league play. Chris Collins’ team is 9-7 and will next travel to Purdue on Sunday.

Daily Specials

  • Toledo at Ohio
  • Illinois at Maryland
  • St. Bonaventure at Duquesne
  • Michigan State at Wisconsin
  • Fresno State at Nevada

Leftovers