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The Breakfast Buffet: Northwestern, Boise State, Illinois’ Defense

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

Northwestern is building equity
The best year that the Big Ten has seen in recent memory isn’t inhibiting the Wildcats from having success. Northwestern’s 74-67 win over Indiana at Assembly Hall on Wednesday night again reiterated the potential of Chris Collins’ team, who opened league play on Sunday night with a convincing win over Michigan State in Evanston. It’s way too early in the season and the Big Ten is way too tough to start having conversations about whether or not Northwestern can sustain this until Selection Sunday and reach the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history, but this much is for certain: The Wildcats are building serious equity on their resume. And that equity isn’t going to go away if you win enough games in this year’s Big Ten.

Boise State deserves more national attention
The Mountain West Conference is about much more than just San Diego State. Boise State improved to 6-1 after Wednesday night’s thrashing of New Mexico and still has not lost a game this year at full strength; Arizona transfer Emmanuel Akot did not play in this team’s lone loss at Houston. Another thing to keep in mind? Another Arizona transfer — Devonaire Doutrive — has still has yet to play this season and is a former top-100 recruit. Doutrive is a a potential starter for the Broncos. Add all that to a dark horse All-American candidate in Derrick Alston Jr. and Leon Rice is set to have his best team yet as a head coach. 

Illinois has to defend better
This team isn’t reflecting Brad Underwood’s demeanor. At least not yet. The Illini improved to 6-3 overall following Wednesday’s 98-81 win at Penn State, but in five games this season against power conference competition, Illinois is giving up an average of 77.2 points. For a team that has aspirations of advancing deep in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, this is something that has to be rectified. Great teams defend. Consistently. 

On The Side

  • San Diego State is 11-1 over the past three seasons when Nathan Mensah scores in double-figures. Can you say X-Factor? The 6-10 center is averaging 10.1 points, eight rebounds, and 2.1 blocks this season for the Aztecs, who are currently 6-1 overall.
  • NC State has two capable freshman guards in Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore. The duo is combining to average 17.5 points, 5.5 assists, and 3.5 steals. Both are also averaging over 15 minutes. One big thing to remember: Hayes and DJ Funderburk did not play when the Wolfpack suffered their only loss last week at Saint Louis. 
  • Colorado has quietly put together a solid 6-1 start, with its only loss coming on the road at Tennessee. The Buffaloes will get a chance to make an early impression in the Pac-12, as their first three conference tilts are on the road at Arizona, USC, and UCLA. 
  • Davidson’s starting backcourt of Kellan Grady, Carter Collins, and Hyunjung Lee is combining to average 49.9 points. The trio is also shooting a combined 50.1 percent from the field and 44.2 percent from three-point range. Keep an eye on Bob McKillop’s squad as the season progresses in the Atlantic 10. 
  • Four of Virginia Tech’s top five scorers — Nahiem Alleyne, Tyrece Radford, Jalen Cole, and Hunter Cattoor — are all sophomores. The Hokies’ top scorer — Keve Aluma — is in his first year in the program after he transferred from Wofford, where he played for Mike Young. Virginia Tech is 7-1 and unquestionably the biggest surprise in the ACC. 

Leftovers: