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The Breakfast Buffet: UConn has its mojo back, Maliq Brown, the SEC is showcasing its depth

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

UConn has its mojo back
What a difference a week makes. Now a little more than 10 days removed from going 0-3 at the Maui Invitational, the Huskies are on a three-game winning streak after Sunday’s 11-point win at Texas. The victory over the Longhorns and last week’s home victory over Baylor will both likely be Quad 1 victories on Selection Sunday. UConn is now 7-3 and will finish its non-conference slate on Saturday against Gonzaga at MSG. The Huskies are currently on a seven-game winning streak at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

Maliq Brown is Duke’s unsung presence
He doesn’t get near the attention of Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, or Tyrese Proctor, but Brown is an invaluable piece to the Blue Devils’ operation. An elite defender, the 6-9 Brown is emerging as a reliable end of game option for Jon Scheyer because of his defense, experience, and intangibles. In Sunday’s win against Louisville at the KFC Yum Center, Brown finished with six points, 11 rebounds, and three steals in 29 minutes. Remember: Brown led the ACC in steals last season when he was at Syracuse. This is the under-the-radar piece in Durham.

The SEC is showcasing its depth
A few days ago, I wrote about how the SEC was separating itself as the best conference in college basketball. A big reason for that is the teams that were picked at the bottom of the league are significantly better than many anticipated. Missouri — who picked 13th in the SEC Preseason Poll — is 8-1 and upset Kansas on Sunday. Oklahoma — who was picked 15th in the SEC Preseason Poll — is 9-0 and won the prestigious Battle 4 Atlantis during Thanksgiving Week. And Vanderbilt — who was picked 16th in the SEC Preseason Poll — is 9-1 and 4-0 against power conference opponents. This league may very well challenge the old Big East’s record of 11 teams in the NCAA Tournament, which occurred in 2011.

On The Side

  • Kansas was outscored by a combined 24 points in the first half of back-to-back losses to Creighton and Missouri, who were both unranked in last week’s AP Top 25.
  • Kentucky announced on Sunday night that Kerr Kriisa will be out indefinitely following foot surgery. The veteran point guard is currently averaging 4.4 points and 3.8 assists. The Wildcats are 8-1 will resume action on Wednesday night against Colgate at Rupp arena.
  • How many centers in college basketball would you take over Maryland’s Derik Queen? There aren’t many. The 6-10 freshman is averaging 21.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in the Terps’ first two Big Ten games.
  • Prediction: Jamiya Neal’s numbers are going to spike for Creighton now that Pop Isaacs is done for the season with a hip injury. The 6-5 Neal had 19 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists in the Jays’ win over Saturday over UNLV and averaged 11.0 points and 5.4 rebounds a year ago at Arizona State prior to transferring.
  • UMass is 3-7 and has already lost buy games this season to UMass Lowell, Central Connecticut, and Hofstra. The run to the 1996 Final Four feels a lot longer than 26 and a half years ago in Amherst.

Daily Specials

  • Minnesota at Indiana
  • Penn at VCU
  • Abilene Christian at Baylor

Leftovers