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The Breakfast Buffet: Wendell Green steps up a weight class, Texas Tech/Baylor, USC plays a matinee

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

Wendell Green will step up a weight class against Alabama
Green hasn’t just been good over the past month — he’s played like an All-SEC first-team caliber guard. In Auburn’s last seven games, the 5-11 Green — who transferred from Eastern Kentucky — has averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 assists, and 4.7 rebounds. He’ll step up a weight class tonight in Tuscaloosa. Alabama (11-4) has been incredibly mercurial this season, but no one has ever questioned the caliber of its perimeter. Green — and the rest of the Tigers’ roster — will have their hands full tonight against the Crimson Tide’s guard-heavy attack of Jahvon Quinerly, Jaden Shackelford, Keon Ellis, and JD Davison — a quartet who averages a combined 52.3 points, 20.4 rebounds, and 12 assists. Auburn (14-1) is on an 11-game winning streak and hasn’t lost since Nov. 24th.

Texas Tech/Baylor
If the Red Raiders are good enough to beat Kansas like they did on Saturday without both Kevin McCullar and Terrence Shannon Jr., then they’re good enough to push the defending national champions tonight in Waco. Baylor enters tonight’s tilt with 69 wins in its last 75 games. The Bears’ perimeter troika of James Akinjo, LJ Cryer, Adam Flagler, and Matthew Mayer is trending towards being in the discussion as the best guard unit in the sport. Texas Tech’s defense again has to be its anchor as Baylor is averaging 79 points in its first three Big 12 games.

USC plays a matinee
If you read this column regularly then you how emphatically I feel regarding college basketball’s need for more standalone games. Today, we’ve got one. USC (13-0) visits Stanford this afternoon (5 PM ET, 2 PM PT) in the first of three games that the Trojans will play this week; Andy Enfield’s squad will also host Oregon State and Oregon on Thursday and Saturday in Los Angeles. This rendition of USC doesn’t have a bonafide lottery pick on its roster like it has the past two seasons with Evan Mobley and Onyeka Okongwu, but it’s still very good — especially defensively. Through 13 games, the Trojans are holding their opponents to an average of just 56 points.

On The Side

  • Providence’s A.J. Reeves (finger) is not expected to play in tonight’s game at Creighton, Ed Cooley said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast. “We don’t expect him to be out for 4-6 weeks, but we also don’t expect him to be available for the Creighton game,” Cooley said of Reeves, who’s averaging 10.7 points this season. The Friars enter tonight’s game in Omaha at 14-2.
  • Nolan Hickman is gradually becoming a more integral part of Gonzaga’s rotation. The 6-2 freshman is averaging 11 points in his last two games while shooting 6-11 from three-point range during that span. A former five-star prospect, Hickman only has nine turnovers this season in 285 total minutes played.
  • Three weeks from today, Chris Beard will make his return to Lubbock as Texas visits Texas Tech on Feb. 1st. How hostile of an environment can we expect? The fans at United Supermarkets Arena stood and gave a standing ovation on Saturday when it was announced that Texas had lost to Oklahoma State.
  • Buzz Williams deserves credit for Texas A&M’s 13-2 start. The Aggies don’t have any major wins of significance yet, but they also haven’t hurt themselves with costly defeats. This team will host Ole Miss tonight in College Station and then travel to Missouri on Saturday. Williams has put Texas A&M in position to be in position.
  • Memphis is 29-12 over the past few years when Tyler Harris scores in double figures. The 5-9 senior had 20 points in Sunday’s thrilling victory over Cincinnati at FedEx Forum.

Daily Specials

  • USC at Stanford
  • Texas Tech at Baylor
  • Iowa State at Creighton
  • Auburn at Alabama
  • Providence at Creighton

Leftovers