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The Breakfast Buffet: The SEC has separated itself, Northwestern needs its 1-2 punch against Illinois, Georgetown hits the road

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 SEC has separated itself
Bruce Pearl said prior to the season on the College Hoops Podcast that “the SEC was no longer just a football league that played basketball”. He was right. One month into the 2024-25 season, the SEC has separated itself as the best conference in college basketball and it isn’t even close. In addition to 14 wins in 16 games during this week’s ACC/SEC Challenge, the SEC also had a whopping six teams in the Top 10 of the NET as of Thursday. 13 teams from the SEC are currently ranked in the Top 52 of the NET — that’s 81.3 percent of the conference. This league will have at least 10 teams in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Northwestern needs its 1-2 punch against Illinois
The Wildcats are the only program in college basketball who currently has two players — Brooks Barnhizer (20.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists) and Nick Martinelli (20.1 points, 6.7 rebounds) — averaging 20 points or more. Chris Collins is going to need both of them to have big games tonight as Northwestern hosts its talented neighbor from a few hours away in Champaign. The Wildcats have been taken to the Gates of Hell twice in the past week, first losing by two points to Butler last Thursday in Arizona on a missed put back at the buzzer. A brutal 30-foot buzzer beater against Iowa followed on Tuesday. After two straight trips to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, Collins again has a team that can be competitive in the Big Ten. But can Northwestern — who’s currently 6-3 — be a part of March Madness for the third consecutive year? It all depends on if the tandem of Barnhizer and Martinelli can carry this team against top tier competition. That starts tonight against Illinois in Evanston.

Georgetown hits the road against West Virginia
Tonight’s trip to Morgantown marks the first time this season that Ed Cooley’s team will play a game away from Washington D.C. We’ll know a lot more about this team after tonight’s matchup with West Virginia, who truly shined during last week’s Battle 4 Atlantis with an upset win over Gonzaga and a surprise triumph over Arizona. The Hoyas are currently 7-1, with their only blemish coming against Notre Dame on Nov. 16th. Georgetown’s Malik Mack (13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists) should have his hands full with Javon Small (19.0 points, 4.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 2.6 steals), who’s quietly playing like one of the best players in the Big 12 for the Mountaineers at point guard.

On The Side

  • Tom Izzo may have unlocked something in Michigan State by putting Tre Holloman into the starting lineup as a secondary ball handler alongside Jeremy Fears. The Spartans had 25 assists on 29 made field goals in Wednesday’s win at Minnesota. Holloman meanwhile, has 15 assists to just three turnovers in the two games that he’s started.
  • Texas A&M has attempted a combined 102 free throws in its last four games.
  • Butler’s Jahmyl Telfort is averaging 22.3 points in his last three games. This may be the least appreciated player in the Big East.
  • Purdue’s 24 turnovers in Thursday night’s lopsided loss at Penn State was the most turnovers that it’s had in a game since 2005.
  • Cincinnati’s Dan Skillings (knee) has a chance to return to game action on Sunday against Howard, a school spokesman told College Hoops Today on Thursday. The 6-5 Skillings had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the one game that he appeared in this season.

Daily Specials

  • Georgetown at West Virginia
  • Illinois at Northwestern

Leftovers