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The Breakfast Buffet: The CBS Sports Classic, Arkansas/Houston, Duke/Texas Tech

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

The CBS Sports Classic
This annual tradition happens today in Atlanta and as usual, it will feature a terrific doubleheader. St. John’s faces Kentucky in the first game (12:30 PM ET, CBS) in a matchup that features Rick Pitino squaring off against former player and captain — Mark Pope — in a pivotal non-conference game for both the Red Storm and the Wildcats. North Carolina will face Ohio State in the second game of the event, which will mark the return of Tar Heels veteran guard Seth Trimble (14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds), who has been out of the lineup since Nov. 7th due to a forearm injury.

Arkansas/Houston
An Elite Eight caliber game in December? You better believe it. The Razorbacks have won four straight games since losing to Duke on Thanksgiving Night in Chicago and clearly look like the best team in the SEC. The Cougars meanwhile, have only lost once so far this season and are again trending towards being a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Join Rich Waltz, Steve Lappas, and myself for this evening’s broadcast from Newark. Tip off is at 5:30 PM ET on CBS.

Duke returns to MSG against Texas Tech
The undefeated Blue Devils beat Kansas earlier this season in the Champions Classic at The World’s Most Famous Arena and they’ll return tonight to take on a mercurial, but talented team in the Red Raiders. Texas Tech is giving up an average of over 80.0 points in the five games that it’s played this season against power conference opponents. That could open up the floodgates for Duke freshman and National Player of the Year favorite Cameron Boozer (23.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists).

On The Side

  • Kentucky’s Mark Pope was Friday’s guest on INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW. To watch the full interview, click HERE.
  • Arizona has won five straight meetings against San Diego State entering tonight’s neutral site clash in Phoenix.
  • Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn has already had five games this season with 10 or more rebounds. He had four during all of last year. The Boilers will face Auburn tonight at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
  • Four of Virginia’s top five scorers — Thijs de Ridder, Chance Mallory, Jacari White, and Sam Lewis — are shooting 40.0 percent or better from three-point range. Ryan Odom’s squad is 9-1 entering today’s matchup with Maryland in Charlottesville.
  • A salute to Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, who continues to be the best scorer in college basketball that not enough people are talking about. The slithery lefty has already tallied five games this season with 25 or more points and is currently averaging 21.9 points.

Daily Specials

  • Kentucky/St. John’s
  • North Carolina/Ohio State
  • Arkansas/Houston
  • Auburn/Purdue
  • Duke/Texas Tech

Leftovers