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/Providence was an instant classic
Fierce rivals? Check. A raucous atmosphere at Amica Mutual Pavilion? Check. Incredible shotmaking? Beyond. The Huskies’ 103-98 overtime win over the Friars on Wednesday night may have been pound-for-pound the best game we’ve seen in college basketball this season. It featured a ridiculous performance from UConn point guard Silas Demary Jr., who had 23 points, 15 assists, and just one turnover in the victory. The Huskies were also a ridiculous 18-32 from three-point range in the road triumph. UConn returns to action on Saturday at home against DePaul while Providence will travel to Marquette.
Braden Huff is quietly having a ridiculously efficient season for Gonzaga
How do you hide a 6-10 left-handed post player? It’s a hard thing to do, but for some reason it feels like Huff’s greatness this season has been overshadowed a bit. It shouldn’t be. Entering tonight’s game against Santa Clara in Spokane, Huff is averaging 18.1 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting an astronomical 66.2 percent from the field. With Huff and Graham Ike (16.8 points, 8.5 rebounds), the Bulldogs have unequivocally one of the best power forward-center combos in all of college basketball.
Jaxon Kohler has drastically improved his outside shooting
A bonafide threat in pick-and-pop situations, this broad shouldered big man has already made 29 three-point shots this season and is shooting a whopping 53.7 percent from long distance entering Michigan State’s matchup with Northwestern tonight in East Lansing. The 6-9 Kohler only made 19 three-point shots during all of last season. He’s also averaging a double-double — 14.2 points and 10.2 rebounds — for the Spartans, who are 13-2 overall and a whopping 43-9 under the past two years under Tom Izzo.
On The Side
- Four of Nebraska’s five starters — Jamarques Lawrence, Sam Hoiberg, Berke Buyuktuncel, and Rienk Mast — all had prior experience in the Huskers’ program entering this season. Continuity matters.
- Prediction: No team from the West Coast — Oregon, UCLA, USC, or Washington — will ever win a Big Ten regular season title.
- Texas has 26 assists and 26 turnovers in its first two SEC games, which were both losses. Next up for the Longhorns? A trip to Tuscaloosa on Saturday to face Alabama. It feels like it’s going to be tough sledding over the next few months for Sean Miller’s team.
- Two head coaches who are not getting enough credit for getting the most out of their teams: DePaul’s Chris Holtmann and Minnesota’s Niko Medved.
- INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW will return to CBS Sports Network today at 1 PM ET.
Daily Specials
- Northwestern at Michigan State
- Rutgers at Illinois
- Ohio State at Oregon
- San Francisco at Loyola Marymount
- Santa Clara at Gonzaga
Leftovers
- The Breakfast Buffet: Tobe Awaka, Nebraska’s defense, Texas/Kentucky
- INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW (1/20): Guest — Virginia’s Ryan Odom
- The Breakfast Buffet: Michigan returns home, Seton Hall/St. John’s, Kansas hits the road at Colorado
- INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW (1/19): Florida, Kentucky, The ACC, The Big East, JT Toppin, Darryn Peterson
- The Breakfast Buffet: Brad Brownell, Florida, St. John’s is thriving on the road
