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
Richmond’s trip to Morgantown
Kentucky’s struggles aren’t helping the Spiders and that makes today’s game against West Virginia that much more important. Two weeks ago today, Chris Mooney’s squad handed Kentucky its first loss of the season at Rupp Arena. While many thought that win would propel the Spiders in terms of their potential NCAA Tournament resume, beating the Wildcats isn’t going to help much if they keep losing. It’s been harder and harder over the past couple of years for teams who play in non power conferences to gain quality wins in November and December because of limited opportunities. Richmond has one of those rare chances today against West Virginia in Morgantown.
Kentucky overscheduled
This isn’t an excuse for a team that fell to 1-4 after Saturday’s one-point loss to Notre Dame, but it’s something that needs to be pointed out. The Wildcats currently don’t have a player in their rotation who was a part of their program last season. That coupled with an irregular offseason and a loaded early schedule has John Calipari’s team in the predicament that it’s currently in. The Wildcats had built-in non-conference commitments with Louisville, UCLA (CBS Sports Classic), Kansas (Champions Classic), and Texas (Big 12/SEC Challenge), who will visit Lexington in January. Adding a game with Atlantic 10 favorite Richmond plus Notre Dame at home and a return game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta prior to SEC play feels like an awful lot to throw at a group that lacks any real experience as a unit.
USC-Stanford is full of sizzle
NBA scouts across the country will be tuned into tonight’s Pac-12 opener for the Trojans and the Cardinal, as two likely Top-10 picks in next year’s NBA Draft — Evan Mobley and Ziaire Williams — step into the spotlight. The 7-foot Mobley is averaging 17.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, and three blocks while the 6-8 Williams looks to snap out of a recent offensive slump that has seen him fail to crack double-figures in his each of his last two outings. This game is appointment television for the basketball junkie.
On The Side
- It’s only the second week of December, but I’m already running out of adjectives for Missouri. This looks like it has a chance to be Tigers’ best team since they earned a two seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Missouri again moved the needle on Saturday night, beating rival Illinois at home to remain undefeated.
- Memphis will enter league play at 4-3 following Saturday’s loss to Auburn in Atlanta. The Tigers didn’t win a single key game during the non conference portion of their schedule. This team is going to have its hands full to build an at-large resume for the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
- Illinois freshman point guard Andre Curbelo is a future All-American. The 6-1 floor general had 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists in Saturday night’s loss to Missouri and could be an X-Factor moving forward for Brad Underwood’s squad. Remember the name.
- How good is Penn State? We’ll have a better idea after today’s Big Ten opener at Michigan. The Nittany Lions are coming off a blowout win earlier in the week at Virginia Tech and had previously blown a 19-point lead at home to Seton Hall before falling in overtime.
- Please make sure to say a prayer today for Florida’s Keyontae Johnson, who collapsed in Saturday’s game at Florida State and had to be taken to a nearby Tallahassee hospital. May God bless.
Daily Specials
- Richmond at West Virginia
- Penn State at Michigan
- Arizona State at Grand Canyon
- St. John’s at Georgetown
- Stanford at USC
