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
St. John’s has a big week
And it feels like a do-or-die week. Saturday’s loss against Providence dropped the Red Storm’s overall record to 9-5 and tonight begins a two-game road trip at Butler and Creighton. As today, both games will be Quad 1 opportunities. With a resume that features minimal wins of significance during the non-conference portion of the schedule, St. John;’s now finds itself in desperate need of to stack wins if it wants to play in the NCAA Tournament. Another thing to remember: We still truly don’t know other than UConn how many teams in the Big East will be stable to sustain a high level of play from now until Selection Sunday. There still may not be a plethora of opportunities for the Red Storm to move the needle from now until mid-March.
Duke/Louisville
Pat Kelsey told reporters on Monday that Mikel Brown Jr. (16.6 points, 5.1 assists) will not play on Tuesday against the Blue Devils and miss his fifth straight game due to a back injury, but this game is still appointment television. Even without Brown, the Cardinals have a capable perimeter and a potential All-American in Xavier transfer Ryan Conwell (19.6 points, 4.7 rebounds). It will be interesting to see how Louisville’s frontline does against Duke’s Cameron Boozer (23.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists), who continues to separate himself in the National Player of the Year race. An underrated passer, the 6-9 Boozer has handed out 18 assists in the Blue Devils’ last three games.
Chris Cenac steps up a weight class against Texas Tech
Houston’s dream of going back to a second consecutive Final Four may very well hinge on Cenac’s evolution between now and Selection Sunday. We’ll see how far he’s come tonight. The 6-10 big man (9.0 points, 7.4 rebounds) hasn’t scored or rebounded in double figures in each of his last three games and he’ll have his hands full this evening against last season’s Big 12 Player of the Year JT Toppin (21.2 points, 10.8 rebounds) and the rest of the Red Raiders’ frontline.
On The Side
- Six of UConn’s nine primary rotation players — Solo Ball, Braylon Mullins, Alex Karaban, Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Ross, and Eric Reibe — have only played for one program during their college careers. Continuity matters.
- Malique Ewin is averaging 14.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks in Arkansas’ last three games. This is an emerging piece to monitor in Fayetteville.
- Seton Hall is 4-1 this season in games decided by seven points or fewer.
- UCLA’s two primary centers — Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson — have grabbed a combined four rebounds in the Bruins’ last three games. Is it officially time for this team to go small? Mick Cronin’s squad resumes action tonight in Madison against Wisconsin.
- Vanderbilt’s Mark Byington is today’s guest on INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW. To watch the full interview, click HERE.
Daily Specials
- Duke at Louisville
- Georgia at Florida
- St. John’s at Butler
- Texas Tech at Houston
- TCU at Kansas
Leftovers
- The Breakfast Buffet: Tobe Awaka, Nebraska’s defense, Texas/Kentucky
- INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW (1/20): Guest — Virginia’s Ryan Odom
- The Breakfast Buffet: Michigan returns home, Seton Hall/St. John’s, Kansas hits the road at Colorado
- INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW (1/19): Florida, Kentucky, The ACC, The Big East, JT Toppin, Darryn Peterson
- The Breakfast Buffet: Brad Brownell, Florida, St. John’s is thriving on the road
