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
Wisconsin got its season back against Michigan
Prior to Saturday, the Badgers had lost five games to BYU, TCU, Nebraska, Villanova, and Purdue by an average of 19 points. None of that mattered during one 40-minute stretch in Ann Arbor. Operating with the focus of a surgeon, Wisconsin shot 50 percent from the field and made 15-33 three-point shots en route to a dramatic 91-88 win. After eviscerating their opponents for the majority of this season, the Wolverines looked mortal in a close win at Penn State earlier this week. On Saturday, the Badgers’ stellar outside shooting and ability to go over the top of the defense gave a formula on how to beat Dusty May’s team moving forward.
Arizona’s dominance is understated
After a troika of close early season wins over Florida, UCLA, and UConn, the Wildcats have ripped through their opponents since like a chainsaw through butter. The 11 opponents that Arizona has played after its four-point win over UConn on Nov. 19th in Storrs have been beaten by an average of 18.0 points. No opponent during that span has been able to stay within single digits of Arizona, who’s 16-0 start is its best since the 2013-14 season when it was a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost to Wisconsin in the Elite Eight. Tommy Lloyd’s squad will return to action on Wednesday night in Tucson against Arizona State.
Illinois/Iowa
The game of the day in college basketball is in Iowa City and features two teams who are headed for the NCAA Tournament. Their respective makeups though, are much different. The Illini are an extremely balanced team and feature five different players — Keaton Wagler, Kylan Boswell, Andrej Stojakovic, David Mirkovic, and Tomislav Ivisic — that are currently averaging in double figures while the Hawkeyes lean on one true star in point guard Bennett Stirtz (18.0 points, 5.0 assists). Stirtz is the only player on Iowa that averages in double figures.
On The Side
- Houston is 37-4 in Big 12 regular season games under Kelvin Sampson.
- Braden Smith has 55 assists in Purdue’s last five games.
- Rick Pitino may have unlocked something by expanding Lefteris Liotopoulous’ minutes. The 6-4 sophomore scored a combined 27 points in 47 minutes off the bench this week in back-to-back road wins against Creighton and Butler. He was also an impressive 7-14 from three-point range during that span. Keep an eye on this guy.
- Texas’ win at Alabama on Saturday night was its biggest yet under Sean Miller. The Longhorns are only 10-6, but will get another Quad 1 opportunity this week when Vanderbilt visits Austin. This is the value of playing a power conference like the SEC.
- Utah State’s winning percentage over the last four seasons with three different head coaches — Jerrod Calhoun, Danny Sprinkle, and Ryan Odom — is 78.3 percent.
Daily Specials
- Illinois at Iowa
- Cincinnati at UCF
- Ohio State at Washington
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
