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The Breakfast Buffet: Providence eyeing Big East regular season title, Jared Bynum, Kentucky/Tennessee

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

Providence is essentially playing for the Big East regular season title against Villanova
If the Friars can beat the Wildcats tonight at the Dunkin Donuts Center (8 PM ET, CBS Sports Network), they’ll have a three-game lead over Villanova (19-6) in the loss column with only four conference games remaining on their regular season schedule. Two of those games will be played at home. Providence (21-2) has never won an outright Big East regular season title.

Jared Bynum may be the best guard on the court tonight at the Dunkin Donuts Center
That doesn’t mean that most people wouldn’t take Villanova’s Collin Gillespie over Bynum at point guard if they needed a floor general for one game, but it does mean that Bynum has been playing like an All-Big East caliber player. A transfer from St. Joe’s, Bynum is averaging 25.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, four assists, and 2.3 steals over his last three games while shooting 63.1 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from three-point range during that span. That’s utterly ridiculous. Providence is 26-9 over the past two years in games where Bynum is in the lineup.

Kentucky/Tennessee
The Wildcats have won five SEC games in a row. The Vols have won seven SEC games in a row. Something’s gotta give tonight in Knoxville. Remember: Kentucky has yet to lose in 2022 when it’s been at full strength. One of its victories was a 28-point decimation of Tennessee on Jan. 15th at Rupp Arena. Rick Barnes’ squad appears to be a different team now versus then and has settled into a perimeter based attack that is based on speed and ball security. The Vols only turned the ball over nine times in Saturday’s win over Vanderbilt. Tennessee hasn’t been viewed up until this point as a Sweet 16 caliber team — that could change with a win tonight against Kentucky.

On The Side

  • Chet Holmgren is now leading Gonzaga in three-point shooting accuracy at 46.6 percent. The 7-foot freshman is 12-22 from long distance in his last five games.
  • LSU is 16-1 this season in games where Xavier Pinson plays more than 16 minutes. The only loss during that stretch? At Auburn.
  • Colorado State’s best long-term prospect is Chandler Jacobs. A Division II transfer, the 6-7 Jacobs had 16 points and seven rebounds in Sunday’s OT win at Boise State. This guy changes the ceiling in Fort Collins.
  • Texas Tech’s balance is underrated. The Red Raiders’ top six scorers — Bryson Williams, Terrence Shannon Jr., Kevin McCullar, Davion Warren, Kevin Obanor, and Adonis Arms — are averaging between 7.9 points and 13.4 points.
  • Purdue has never had anyone like Jaden Ivey (17.4 points, five rebounds, 3.1 assists) under Matt Painter, but that doesn’t mean that he still doesn’t have room for improvement. “We’ve got to get more out of him defensively,” Painter said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast. “He can get big time blocks. He can get big time steals, but he’s got to do a better job on the ball defensively.” The Boilers are 22-4 and will next travel to Northwestern on Wednesday.

Daily Specials

  • Wake Forest at Duke
  • Texas at Oklahoma
  • Villanova at Providence
  • Kentucky at Tennessee
  • Wisconsin at Indiana

Leftovers