College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: The CBS Sports Classic, Memphis begins a key home stand against Mississippi State, Purdue/Auburn

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 event — which has emerged as the ultimate pre-Christmas doubleheader in college basketball — takes place later today at MSG as UCLA faces North Carolina and Kentucky squares off with Ohio State. The matchup between the Bruins and Tar Heels — which begins at 3 PM ET on CBS — should feature a tremendous contrast in styles. According to the analytics website KenPom.com, North Carolina is third nationally in tempo while UCLA checks in at 257. Meanwhile, the second game of the doubleheader is an important showcase opportunity for the Buckeyes, who are 7-4 in their first full season under Jake Diebler. In its last two games away from Columbus against Maryland and Auburn, Ohio State has lost twice by an average of 31 points. Kentucky is 10-1 in its first season under Mark Pope.

Memphis begins a key two-game home stand against Mississippi State
Penny Hardaway is currently doing the best coaching job of his career, but there’s more work to be done before the Tigers begin league play in the American Athletic Conference. Memphis’ next two home games — today’s matchup with the Bulldogs and next Saturday’s tilt against Ole Miss — are both Quad 1 opportunities because both games are against opponents who are currently ranked in the Top 30 of the NET. That means that the Tigers — who are 9-2 overall and currently own three Quad 1 wins — have a chance to to tremendously bolster their resume in the next seven days. It starts this afternoon against Mississippi State at FedExForum. Tip off is at 12:30 PM ET on CBS.

Purdue/Auburn
There’s no official word yet, but it seems more than likely that today’s matchup in Birmingham between these two terrific programs is unlikely to feature Tigers star Johni Broome (18.1 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.7 blocks), who’s currently in the early stages of rehabbing a shoulder injury that he suffered earlier this week. If Auburn wins without him against an opponent of the Boilers’ caliber, it will tell you all you need to know about Bruce Pearl’s team, who enters today’s game at 10-1. Don’t put it past the Tigers. While Broome is a terrific player and the strong early favorite to be this season’s National Player of the Year, the totality of Auburn’s relentlessness is what really wears down its opponents. The Tigers currently have nine players in their rotation other than Broome who average double-figure minutes. Remember: One week ago, Texas A&M’s tenacious defense wore down Purdue in Indianapolis and completely neutralized the Boilers’ inside-outside combo of Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn, who combined for just 26 points while shooting a combined 8-23 from the field in a four-point loss. Don’t be shocked if Pearl attempts to implement a similar formula today in Birmingham.

On The Side

  • Duke freshman Isaiah Evans is quietly averaging 10.7 points in his last six games. It will be interesting to see if this continues in the guts of ACC play, which continues today for the Blue Devils in Atlanta against Georgia Tech. Jon Scheyer’s team is 9-2 and has won five straight games.
  • As of Friday, the SEC had 14 of its 16 teams ranked in the Top 50 of the NET.
  • Xavier has lost three of its last four games by a combined 12 points entering tonight’s Big East home opener against Marquette at the Cintas Center.
  • Mount St. Mary’s transfer De’Shayne Montgomery scored 16 points in 20 minutes in his Georgia debut on Thursday night against Buffalo. The 6-5 guard — who averaged 13.2 points last season at the mid-major level — didn’t play during the first semester due to academic issues, but is another quality piece to monitor in the Bulldogs’ rotation. Mike White’s team is 10-1 and looks primed to play in the NCAA Tournament in 2025.
  • UC Irvine will go for its sixth true road win of the year today at Duquesne. The Anteaters are 10-1 this season under Russell Turner and again look like one of the best mid-majors in the country.

Daily Specials

  • UConn at Butler
  • Mississippi State at Memphis
  • UCLA/North Carolina (MSG)
  • Kentucky/Ohio State (MSG)
  • Purdue/Auburn (Birmingham)

Leftovers