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The Breakfast Buffet: Oregon has a massive weekend, UConn’s defense, WCC has a completely different dynamic

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

Oregon has a massive weekend
Are the Ducks truly the team to watch in the Pac-12? We’ll have a better idea after the next few days. Oregon will take a six-game winning streak into tonight’s game at Colorado and then finish the weekend on Sunday in Salt Lake City against Utah. One could argue that this trip has never been harder since both the Buffaloes and Utes joined the Pac-12. The Ducks still aren’t fully healthy, but getting N’Faly Dante (12 points, 11.5 rebounds) back last weekend from a knee injury was a critical addition for this team’s long-term viability. Oregon is currently in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 and a pair of wins this weekend could propel the Ducks into next week’s AP Top 25.

UConn’s defense smothered Creighton
There’s elite defense and then there’s what the Huskies did to the Bluejays on Wednesday night at Gampel Pavilion. Creighton entered its game against UConn averaging 79.9 points — it wound up with 48 and lost by 14. That number too, is a bit deceiving. With eight minutes to play in the game, the Huskies held a 50-30 lead and completely took away everything that the Bluejays wanted to do offensively. UConn held Creighton to just 34.6 percent from the field, 23.1 percent from three-point range, and out rebounded Greg McDermott’s team 48-32. There’s not a team in the sport playing better than Dan Hurley’s squad.

The WCC has a completely different dynamic
Unlike past seasons, the dominance of Gonzaga and to a lesser extent, Saint Mary’s, has not overwhelmed the other members of this conference. That means that all of the other capable teams in this league — most notably San Francisco and Santa Clara — have their best chance in recent memory to win the WCC Tournament in March and earn an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. Barring something unforeseen between now and Selection Sunday, both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are unlikely to have enough opportunities to put together a resume that’s good enough to earn an at-large bid. The last time that one of these programs did not win the WCC Tournament? 2008. This is the most wide open that this league has been in very long time.

On The Side

  • Purdue’s Zach Edey has tallied 63 points. 34 rebounds, and four blocks in his last two games. I’ll say it again: Do not take what this guy does for granted.
  • Seton Hall’s Jaden Bediako is averaging more points (8.3), rebounds (7.4), and blocks (1.7) than he did last season when he was at Santa Clara. That’s something you rarely see when a player transfers to a power conference from a mid-major program.
  • Kansas State is 10-0 in overtime games under Jerome Tang.
  • UNLV is going to be the bid stealer to watch at the Mountain West Tournament, which will be played on the Runnin Rebels’ home floor at the Thomas & Mack Center. Kevin Kruger’s squad is only 9-7, but has already beaten Creighton, New Mexico, and Boise State.
  • Xavier’s four primary guards — Dayvion McKnight, Quincy Olivari, Desmond Claude, and Trey Green — have combined to score 131 out of its 170 points in its last two games.

Daily Specials

  • Minnesota at Michigan State
  • South Florida at Memphis
  • Illinois at Michigan
  • Oregon at Colorado
  • Washington State at Stanford

Leftovers