College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: St. John’s massive opportunity, Kofi Cockburn, Iowa/Purdue

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 massive opportunity against Kansas
The first ever basketball game played at UBS Arena provides a monumental chance for the Red Storm to make a national statement. St. John’s (5-1) doesn’t have any other remaining marquee non-conference opportunities on its schedule before the start of Big East play and a win over the Jayhawks would give Mike Anderson’s team a victory on its NCAA Tournament resume that would travel all the way until Selection Sunday. The Red Storm lost a few weeks ago at Indiana in their only other showcase game so far this season. It will be interesting to see just how much St. John’s frenetic pace is able to bother Kansas’ perimeter heavy attack, which is led by Remy Martin, Dajuan Harris, Ochai Agbaji, and Christian Braun.

Kofi Cockburn looks like the Shaquille O’Neal of college basketball
That may sound like hyperbole, but it really isn’t. I’m not comparing Cockburn to O’Neal as a player, but Cockburn is having a similar type of impact in college basketball that O’Neal had in the NBA. The 7-foot, 285 pound big man is averaging 29.7 points and 10.3 rebounds over his last three games while shooting 75.5 percent from the field. That’s utterly ridiculous. Illinois hosts Rutgers tonight in Champaign in its Big Ten opener.

Iowa/Purdue
The Boilers have won their first five games at Mackey Arena this season by an average of 36.6 points. Will the Hawkeyes be able to be competitive inside one of college basketball’s elite venues? It all depends on how well Iowa is able to defend Purdue’s interior combo of Zach Edey and Trevion Williams. The Hawkeyes have the personnel up front with Keegan Murray and Patrick McCaffery to extend Purdue’s defense on every possession, but that doesn’t mean that Iowa is going to stop an offense that has scored 90 or more points in six of its first seven games. Fran McCaffery’s squad is usually comfortable knowing that it has to outscore an opponent to win, but to beat Purdue in West Lafayette the Hawkeyes will have to potentially break triple digits.

On The Side

  • Michigan’s lack of offense is officially a major concern. The Wolverines are averaging just 63 points over their last four games entering Saturday’s matchup against San Diego State in Ann Arbor (1 PM ET, CBS). A loss against the Aztecs would put Juwan Howard’s squad at 4-4 overall.
  • North Carolina transfer Walker Kessler is starting to get into a rhythm for Auburn. The 7-footer has tallied three double-doubles in his last four games and had 17 points and 14 rebounds in Wednesday night’s win over UCF.
  • One Iowa related storyline that’s not getting enough attention? Kris Murray — the brother of Keegan Murray — is second on the Hawkeyes in both scoring (11.7) and rebounding (6.0).
  • Tonight’s game between Kansas and St. John’s at UBS Arena is a homecoming for Jayhawks assistant Norm Roberts. A Queens native, Roberts coached the Red Storm from 2004-10.
  • Saint Louis has won seven of its first eight games without All-Atlantic 10 wing Javonte Perkins, who is out for the year with a torn ACL. The Billikens’ only loss this season has been at Memphis. Travis Ford’s team has a big December looming, with games on deck against Conference-USA favorite UAB, Belmont, Boston College, and Auburn as well as a neutral site tilt against Drake in Las Vegas.

Daily Specials

  • Notre Dame at Boston College
  • Kansas at St. John’s (UBS Arena)
  • Rutgers at Illinois
  • Pitt at Virginia
  • Iowa at Purdue

Leftovers