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The Breakfast Buffet: Terrance Arceneaux, Indiana goes small, Bill Self tweaked Kansas’ lineup

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

Terrance Arceneaux is starting to put it together for Houston
This former highly touted high school prospect only played 11 games last season due to an achilles injury, but he’s now starting to show the attributes that initially made him such an intriguing piece for Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars. Long and wiry, the 6-6 Arceneaux is emerging into a potent sixth man for Houston and has solidified himself as this team’s third scoring option behind LJ Cryer (14.6 points) and Emanuel Sharp (14.0 points). In his last six games, Arceneaux is averaging 11.2 points and 4.5 rebounds. He was also 4-5 from three-point range in Saturday’s blowout win over BYU. The Cougars are 10-3 and will next host TCU tonight at the Fertitta Center.

Indiana goes small
Many people — including myself — have felt for a while that the Hoosiers would be best served only playing with one traditional big man on the floor and using 6-9 sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako at power forward instead of small forward. Early indications are that looks like the truth. With veteran big man Malik Reneau (14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds) sidelined due to a knee injury, Indiana has downshifted to a smaller and lineup and it’s already paying major dividends. With Reneau out of the lineup during the past two games, the Hoosiers have gone 2-0 with Mgbako averaging 18 points and 5.5 rebounds during that span. The increased spacing on offense has also made things significantly more seamless for 7-1 big man Oumar Ballo, who had 25 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks in Sunday’s win over Penn State at The Palestra. Mike Woodson’s team is now 12-3 overall and will next host USC on Wednesday at Assembly Hall.

Bill Self tweaked Kansas’ lineup
And it worked wonders. Self’s decision to start Mississippi State transfer Shakeel Moore and move AJ Storr to the bench gave the Jayhawks the jolt they needed after their New Year’s Eve loss to West Virginia at Allen Fieldhouse. The result? A 51-point win over UCF on Sunday in Orlando. Moore had a solid six-point, six-assist performance while Storr had 11 points in 15 minutes as a reserve. Another thing to monitor with Kansas? Self is making a noticeable effort to play Hunter Dickinson and 6-9 freshman Flory Bidunga together for longer stretches. The duo combined for 39 points and 14 rebounds against UCF. The Jayhawks are now 10-3 and will next host Arizona State on Wednesday in Lawrence.

On The Side

  • Alabama is attempting an average of 32.6 three-point shots, but is only making an average of 31.6 percent of its shots from long distance. For as good as the Crimson Tide have played this season, they’re not even close to reaching their potential.
  • Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler is averaging 9.1 rebounds during the Spartans’ current seven-game winning streak.
  • Malik Mack is hitting his stride for Georgetown. After missing the Hoyas’ first two Big East games due to a lower body injury, the 6-2 Mack — who transferred from Harvard — is averaging 20.5 points and 7.0 assists in his last two outings. Ed Cooley’s squad is 12-2 and will next face Marquette on Tuesday night in Milwaukee.
  • Is it time to start getting concerned about Cincinnati? The Bearcats are now 0-2 in Big 12 play and currently do not own a Quad 1 win. Wes Miller’s team will travel to Baylor next and then return home to host Kansas. This program has not played in the NCAA Tournament since 2019.
  • Not many mid-major head coaches are doing a better job than Washington State’s David Riley. The 36-year old head coach lost his best player — Cedric Coward (17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds) — for the season due to a shoulder surgery, but still has the Cougars at 12-3 after Saturday’s win over San Francisco. This guy is a heck of a coach.

Daily Specials

  • Wisconsin at Rutgers
  • TCU at Houston
  • Ohio State at Minnesota

Leftovers