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The Breakfast Buffet: Tennessee, Minnesota/Wisconsin, UCLA’s offense

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

Tennessee has sent a message
The SEC officially has a bully. Just ask Missouri. Wednesday night’s matchup between the Volunteers and Tigers in Columbia was supposed to be a colossal showdown between two undefeated titans. Instead, it reiterated Tennessee’s defensive tenacity as the Volunteers held Missouri to just 53 points in a 20-point victory. Rick Barnes’ team isn’t just tough — it’s violent defensively. It’s also undefeated. The rest of the SEC has been put on notice. 

Minnesota’s trip to Madison
Richard Pitino has done a tremendous job with his team through the first month of the season, but the Gophers’ trip to Wisconsin today will be an arduous one. The Badgers lost earlier this week to Maryland at the Kohl Center and will be out for blood. Can Minnesota improve to 10-1 and beat Iowa, Michigan State, and Wisconsin all within a six-day span? Don’t rule it out of the realm of possibility on the last day of 2020. 

UCLA’s offense is ahead of its defense
That statement feels like an oxymoron for a team that’s coached by Mick Cronin, but it’s the absolute truth. Entering tonight’s game against Utah in Westwood, the Bruins are averaging 77.3 points, but surrendering an average of 66.4 points. By contrast, Cronin’s last team while he was at Cincinnati only gave up an average of 62.7 points. UCLA is also currently ranked 12th in offensive efficiency by KenPom.com. The Bruins are 5-2 overall and haven’t played since losing to Ohio State on Dec. 19th in the CBS Sports Classic.

On The Side

  • Iowa is better if Luka Garza scores less and the team has more balance. This was on display in Tuesday night’s 15-point win over Northwestern, when six different players on the Hawkeyes scored between nine and 24 points with Garza only tallying 18. 
  • LSU freshman Cam Thomas looks like a legitimate SEC Player of the Year candidate. The 6-4 guard is averaging 24.1 points and has scored 20 or more points in five of the Tigers’ first seven games. This team’s only loss — at Saint Louis — came without both Charles Manning Jr. and Josh LeBlanc. 
  • It is time for people to start expecting Tulsa to be a contender in the American Athletic Conference as long as Frank Haith is the head coach. The Golden Hurricane handed Houston its first loss of the season earlier this week and won a share of the league regular season title a year ago. Haith has averaged 19.3 wins since taking over Tulsa’s program in 2014. 
  • Arkansas improved to 9-0 overall and looked the part in Wednesday night’s 97-85 win at Auburn. The Razorbacks have depth, length, and athleticism. Eric Musselman’s squad will next face Missouri on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena.
  • Georgia Tech is now 5-1 since Josh Pastner opted to restore contact drills in practice, highlighted by Wednesday night’s win over North Carolina. The Yellow Jackets’ only loss during that span was on the road at Florida State. Pastner did not do contact drills leading up to the start of the regular season in an effort to fight COVID-19. He immediately scrapped the idea after Georgia Tech lost its first two games.

Daily Specials

  • Minnesota at Wisconsin
  • UCLA at Utah
  • Michigan at Maryland
  • Colorado at USC
  • Cal at Oregon

Leftovers: