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The Breakfast Buffet: Tre White, Purdue has a runway to improve its NCAA Tournament seed, Utah State

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

Tre White is quietly having a terrific season for Kansas
Just as he did earlier in his college career at Illinois, Louisville, and USC, White is somebody who thrives in the shadows. With so much attention for the Jayhawks is on guys like Darryn Peterson, Flory Bidunga, Melvin Council, and now Bryson Tiller, this 6-7 forward can truly fill the mortar in between the bricks. White is currently averaging career-highs in points (14.2), rebounds (7.0), and three-point field goal percentage (42.0) for Kansas, who has now won eight games in a row.

Purdue has a runway to improve its NCAA Tournament seed
The Boilers made a major statement by beating Nebraska in overtime on Tuesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena and more potential Quad 1 wins are on the horizon. Matt Painter’s squad will visit Iowa on Saturday and then return home to West Lafayette for a three-game home stand against Michigan, Indiana, and Michigan State. A road trip to Ohio State then follows. That’s five games with at least four Quad 1 opportunities and it could be five if the Hoosiers continue to play at a high level. As of Wednesday, Indiana was ranked 31st in the NET rankings, which is one spot below to what would equate to a Quad 1 victory for Purdue on its home floor.

Utah State’s streak looks set to continue
This program is on the verge of going to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season and with its third head coach during that time — Jerrod Calhoun — leading the way. Just as Danny Sprinkle (Washington) and Ryan Odom (Virginia) did prior to his arrival in Logan, Calhoun has maximized the Aggies’ brand and is now an incredible 47-11 during his two-year stint as Utah State’s head coach. Another thing that’s incredible? The Aggies have had four different head coaches — Calhoun, Sprinkle, Odom, and Craig Smith — take them to March Madness in four of the past five seasons.

On The Side

  • Houston has won at least a share of either the American Conference or Big 12 regular season title in six of the last seven seasons. The one year where the Cougars did not finish first was 2020-21, but they did advance to the Final Four that season for the first time under Kelvin Sampson.
  • Since losing at home to Auburn a few weeks ago, Florida has won its last four games by an average of 29.8 points.
  • Mick Cronin told reporters on Wednesday that UCLA’s Skyy Clark (hamstring) could return for Saturday’s game against Michigan in Ann Arbor. The 6-3 Clark has not played since Jan. 3rd and averages 13.5 points.
  • College Hoops Today reported on Wednesday that Purdue and Gonzaga are finalizing an agreement to meet on Nov. 2nd at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as part of a massive doubleheader alongside Arizona/UCLA.
  • A pair of road wins at both Michigan and Illinois makes Wisconsin’s NCAA Tournament resume feel pretty bulletproof. The Badgers will next host Michigan State on Friday in Madison.

Daily Specials

  • Marist at Merrimack
  • Hofstra at Charleston
  • Northern Iowa at Belmont

Leftovers