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The Breakfast Buffet: Quincy Guerrier, Texas Tech/West Virginia, Josh Primo

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

Quincy Guerrier comes to the forefront against Virginia
Guerrier hasn’t taken a small step from his freshman to sophomore season, he’s taken a massive leap. After averaging just 6.9 points and 5.3 rebounds a year ago, the 6-7 forward is now averaging 16.9 points and 9.6 rebounds in his second season of college basketball. So why isn’t Guerrier more of a household name nationally? Thus far, his team hasn’t been a major topic of conversation, but that can change tonight when the Orange travel to Virginia. Syracuse will need Guerrier to create space for the Orange’s perimeter of Joe Girard, Buddy Boeheim, and Alan Griffin to get open looks against the Cavaliers’ vaunted “pack line” defense. He’ll also have to be active in the Orange’s 2-3 zone on defense, which has to negate the outside shooting ability of Sam Hauser, Jay Huff, and Rice transfer Trey Murphy; the troika was a combined 7-11 from three-point range in Saturday’s two-point win over Georgia Tech. Both Syracuse and Guerrier can earn a place on the national map if the Orange can get a win tonight in Charlottesville.

Texas Tech’s trip to West Virginia
Don’t show up for this one if you’re soft. It’s been nine days since the Red Raiders last played a game and tonight’s trip to Morgantown is a critical 40-minute stretch for both teams involved. Both Texas Tech and West Virginia trail Texas by two games in the loss column in the Big 12 standings and Baylor by three. Whoever loses tonight will have an awful lot of ground to make up in the race for a conference regular season title. Keep an eye on the matchup inside between the Mountaineers’ Derek Culver and the Red Raiders’ Marcus Santos-Silva.

Josh Primo is Alabama’s unsung presence
People from the periphery know all about the importance of Herb Jones and John Petty, but Primo has also had a major hand in Alabama’s recent success. The 6-6 freshman is averaging 19 points over his last two games and is 10-13 from three-point range during that span. Primo has made a total of 15 shots from long distance over his last five tilts. The Crimson Tide are 7-0 this season in games where he’s scored in double figures. 

On The Side

  • Jermaine Samuels looks like a potential X-Factor for Villanova. The 6-7 forward is doing what many seniors have done under Jay Wright — flourish. Samuels averaged 15 points and 9.5 rebounds last week in a pair of wins over Seton Hall and Providence. The Wildcats are 25-5 over the last four years when Samuels reaches double figures.
  • Will Houston lose another game before the NCAA Tournament? Will the American Athletic Conference have another at-large candidate emerge before Selection Sunday? These are now arguably the two biggest questions in this conference between now and March 14th.
  • It’s time to officially be concerned about Tennessee’s offense. The Vols only averaged 56.5 points in a pair of losses last week to Missouri and Florida while shooting just 12-40 from three-point range during that span. Tennessee also averaged 18 turnovers during the two defeats.
  • North Carolina freshman R.J. Davis is emerging as a symbol of stability for the Tar Heels. The New York native has reached double figures in each of his last four games and has only committed a total of four turnovers in his last 77 minutes played. Buy stock in this kid.
  • Maryland (9-7) is putting itself in position to make the NCAA Tournament. The Terps’ road victories at Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois are going to carry major weight if they’re competing with other bubble teams on Selection Sunday. Another thing to remember? It’s hard to take a “bad loss” in the eyes of the selection committee in this year’s Big Ten. 

Daily Specials

  • Syracuse at Virginia
  • Texas Tech at West Virginia
  • Utah State at UNLV
  • Oklahoma State at Iowa State
  • Arizona State at Arizona

Leftovers: