College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Virginia aims to move the needle against Duke, LSU/Kentucky, a big one in Fort Collins

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

Virginia aims to move the needle against Duke
The Cavaliers are in position to be in position. With a win tonight, they’ll officially be in position. Virginia (17-10) has beaten Providence, swept Miami, and beaten Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Completing a season sweep of the Blue Devils tonight in Charlottesville would help erase an early season loss at James Madison as well as a home defeat against Navy. Tony Bennett’s squad has won five of its last six games.

LSU/Kentucky
The Wildcats — as long as they get and stay healthy — look primed to compete for a national title. The Tigers have lost seven of their last 11 games following a 15-1 start. How can LSU stay with Kentucky tonight at Rupp Arena? It all depends on Xavier Pinson (9.6 points, 4.5 assists) as the Tigers are 17-2 in games this season where he plays 20 minutes or more. The Tigers won the earlier meeting between these two teams this year in Baton Rouge, but the Wildcats were not at full strength due to injuries to both Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington. Both of those players did not play in Kentucky’s win over Alabama on Saturday in Lexington. Their status for tonight is TBD.

A highly anticipated rematch in Fort Collins
The game of the year so far in the Mountain West Conference may have been Wyoming’s 84-78 overtime win over Colorado State on Jan. 31st in Laramie. The rematch happens tonight Fort Collins. The Cowboys and Rams enter tonight’s matchup with a combined record of 43-8 and both have the requisites to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Most college basketball fans know about Colorado State’s David Roddy (19.4 points, 7.5 rebounds), but Wyoming’s inside-outside combination of Hunter Maldonado (19.6 points, 6.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds) and Graham Ike (21.1 points, 9.4 rebounds) remains underrated. This is appointment television for the true college basketball junkie. Tip off is at 9 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.

On The Side

  • Keep an eye on Virginia’s Kadin Shedrick tonight against Duke. The 6-11 sophomore runs the floor like a deer and has very good hands around the rim. Shedrick has made 15 of his last 21 field goal attempts and is averaging 10.5 points and seven rebounds in his last four games.
  • If St. John’s (15-11) wins three of its final four games and enters the Big East Tournament at 18-12, things could get very interesting at the World’s Most Famous Arena. The Red Storm will host Creighton tonight, travel to DePaul on Sunday, and then host Xavier before ending the regular season at Marquette. There’s two Quad 1 and two Quad 2 opportunities in that stretch.
  • Rutgers is 41-8 at home over the last three seasons. There are no free rides in Piscataway. The Scarlet Knights’ dominance on their home floor has put them in position to play meaningful games in February — like the one that they have tonight at Michigan.
  • Since starting the season 1-4, Dayton has gone 18-4 over its last 22 games and beaten Miami, Kansas, Belmont, St. Bonaventure, and VCU. This is the Atlantic 10’s best hope for an at-large bid outside of Davidson.
  • Tulane’s matchup tonight against Houston is the biggest game that the Green Wave have had since Ron Hunter was hired in 2019. Tulane is currently 12-11 and in sole possession of fourth place in the American Athletic Conference.

Daily Specials

  • Duke at Virginia
  • Xavier at Providence
  • TCU at Texas
  • Rutgers at Michigan
  • LSU at Kentucky

Leftovers