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The Breakfast Buffet: Things are about to get real for Kentucky, Arizona/Illinois, Houston/Alabama

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

Things are about to get real for Kentucky
The Wildcats have not played a power conference opponent since they lost to Duke in the Champions Classic on Nov. 9th. The honeymoon officially ends today. This afternoon’s tilt against Notre Dame in South Bend starts a three-game stretch before Christmas where Kentucky (7-1) will play three consecutive power conference opponents. Next Saturday in Las Vegas will feature a matchup with Ohio State as part of the CBS Sports Classic while a date with in-state rival Louisville looms on Dec. 22nd at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats have won their last seven games by an average of 26 points, all of which came against mid-major competition. How good is Kentucky? No one truly knows. Today’s game against the Irish is the start of a period that should be a pretty good barometer to answering that question.

Arizona’s trip to Champaign
Tommy Lloyd has done yeoman’s work in his first season as a head coach, leading Arizona to an impressive 8-0 start with a breathtaking offense that is currently leading the nation in assists at 23 per game. Illinois (7-2) meanwhile, has won five straight games and is starting to resemble the team that many thought it would be at the start of the season. The Illini played their first three games of the year without Kofi Cockburn due to an NCAA issue while sophomore point guard Andre Curbelo hasn’t played since Nov. 23rd due to a neck injury. It will be interesting to see just how much the Wildcats’ offense and shotmaking prowess can translate in what should be an incredibly hostile environment. Arizona is currently averaging 91 points and shooting 49.6 percent from the field as a team. This feels like a Sweet 16 caliber game.

Houston/Alabama
Great offense meets great defense tonight in Tuscaloosa. Alabama has scored 80 or more points in its last three games, including 91 in last Saturday’s monumental win over Gonzaga in Seattle. Houston has held its last four opponents under 60, with three of those opponents only scoring 50. The Cougars are also ranked second in adjusted defense according to KenPom. This game also features a terrific matchup of elite guards. Alabama’s perimeter quartet of Jahvon Quinerly, Jaden Shackelford, Keon Ellis, and JD Davison combined for 69 of this team’s 91 points against Gonzaga while Houston’s troika of Marcus Sasser, Kyler Edwards, and Tramon Mark is formidable in its own right. The winner of this game is going to have a significant victory on its resume for the rest of the season.

On The Side

  • It’s only Dec. 11th, but Marquette (8-2) already owns wins on its resume over Illinois, West Virginia, Ole Miss, and Kansas State. If the Golden Eagles beat UCLA today in Milwaukee, it’s going to be hard to see how this team doesn’t reach the 2022 NCAA Tournament barring a massive collapse in Big East.
  • Xavier’s Colby Jones could be tonight’s breakout star in the annual Crosstown Shootout between the Musketeers and Cincinnati. The 6-5 forward is quietly emerging as one of the top players in the Big East and is averaging 10.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals in his last five games.
  • Dan Hurley was 5-3 against Mark Schmidt when he was at Rhode Island from 2012-18. The two will reignite their competition today when UConn faces St. Bonaventure in the annual Never Forget Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark. Both teams were ranked in the Top 24 of last week’s ROTHSTEIN 45.
  • The most impressive thing about USC’s 9-0 start? No team this season has shot 40 percent or better from the field against the Trojans.
  • Texas’ role allocation is still evolving. Seven different players in the Longhorns’ program averaged in double figures last season. That doesn’t include Devin Askew — who transferred from Kentucky — or Christian Bishop — who was a starter on a Creighton team that reached the Sweet 16 — or Jaylon Tyson — who was a top-50 recruit. None of those guys were among the six players on Texas (6-2) who logged double figure minutes in Thursday’s loss at Seton Hall. “We’re a work in progress,” Beard said after the game. “The biggest thing to me in coaching is the ability to adapt and I’m not sure that it’s not going to be like that moving forward every year with the transfer portal. But we’ll continue to work to figure it out.”

Daily Specials

  • UCLA at Marquette
  • UConn/St. Bonaventure (Newark)
  • Arizona at Illinois
  • Kentucky at Notre Dame
  • Houston at Alabama

Leftovers