College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Seton Hall’s big spot, Sharife Cooper/Baylor, Gonzaga/Pepperdine

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

Seton Hall has a “must win” against Villanova
Too harsh? Sorry, it’s the truth. The Pirates blew a 16-point lead with 12 minutes to play earlier this week in a home loss to Creighton which makes today’s game that much more important. Seton Hall is more capable than its 9-7 record indicates, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not letting key opportunities slip through its fingertips. As of now, the Pirates’ best win this season is a road victory at Xavier. Following today’s game against Villanova, Kevin Willard’s squad has back-to-back road tilts at Providence and UConn. A failure to hold serve again at home would be a major setback for Seton Hall. 

Sharife Cooper against Baylor is appointment television
Running out of adjectives for Cooper is becoming a common occurrence,, but there’s not many needed when you have a player this special going on the road to take on Baylor in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The crafty point guard is averaging 22.3 points, 8.7 assists, and five rebounds this season and has made the Tigers one of the most entertaining teams in the sport despite the fact that they won’t play in the postseason due to a self-imposed ban. Today though, Cooper will step up a weight class. Baylor moved to 15-0 following a 48-point rout of Kansas State on Wednesday night and has college basketball’s premier perimeter with Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler, MaCio Teague, Adam Flagler, and Matthew Mayer. If Cooper can shine today against that group, his status will instantly reach another level.  

Pepperdine could be a tricky opponent for Gonzaga
Gonzaga’s average margin of victory in 16 games this season is 24.7 points. It’s played only one game that’s been decided by single digits. Will the Bulldogs be tested between now and Selection Sunday? Don’t be surprised if it happens tonight in Malibu. Pepperdine only trailed Gonzaga by four points at the half when the two teams met on Jan. 14th in Spokane before losing by 25. It also was extremely competitive earlier this season in losses to UCLA and San Diego State. The Waves have two high-major players in their starting five in Colbey Ross and Kessler Edwards. The 6-1 Ross is one of the best players nationally that nobody really knows about and is averaging 21.8 points and nine assists over his last four games. Keep this game on your radar.

On The Side

  • Scottie Barnes has played in four of Florida State’s five games during its five-game winning streak and is only averaging nine points during that span. That’s a scary thing for the rest of the ACC. The Seminoles will go for their sixth straight win today at Georgia Tech.
  • Like offense? If so, then you’ll love today’s game between Alabama and Oklahoma in Norman. Both teams are averaging 77 or more points and both teams love the three-point shot. 47 percent of the Crimson Tide’s field-goal attempts are from three-point range while 39 percent of the Sooners’ field-goal attempts are from long distance. 
  • I’ll say it again: Houston is a candidate to be a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament, but no other team in the American Athletic Conference looks like a safe bet to make the field. If the Cougars earn an automatic bid at the American Athletic Conference Tournament, this league could wind up with just one bid on Selection Sunday. 
  • Stanford has now won back-to-back games against UCLA and Arizona without three starters in Ziaire Williams (undisclosed), Bryce Wills (knee), and Daejon Davis (knee). None of the three will play in tonight’s game at Arizona State. The Cardinal also have a non-conference win over Alabama on its resume and are looking more and more like an NCAA Tournament team. 
  • RIP to former Temple coach John Chaney, who passed away on Friday at 89. Chaney won 741 games during his career, advanced to the Elite Eight five times, and valued the right things for his players both on and off the floor. There will never be another. 

Daily Specials

  • Oklahoma at Alabama
  • Villanova at Seton Hall
  • Auburn at Baylor
  • Kansas at Tennessee
  • Gonzaga at Pepperdine

Leftovers: