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The Breakfast Buffet: Texas Tech, ACC officially has a second team, Kadary Richmond

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

Texas Tech beats Kansas without Terrence Shannon Jr. and Kevin McCullar
Now that’s a sentence that I never thought that I’d be writing when this game started on Saturday. The Red Raiders’ 75-67 win over the Jayhawks in Lubbock came without their top two scorers — Shannon and McCullar — in a game that Texas Tech (11-2) controlled for the entire second half. The victory allowed Mark Adams’ squad to avoid an 0-2 start in Big 12 play prior to heading to Waco to play top-ranked Baylor this week. It also showed that Texas Tech has other options who are capable of stepping to the forefront if needed. UTEP transfer Bryson Williams led the Red Raiders with 22 points and eight rebounds against Kansas while Clarence Nadolny finished with 17. Texas Tech is good enough to finish in the top half of the Big 12.

The ACC officially has a second team aside from Duke
That would be Miami (13-3). The Hurricanes’ 76-74 win over the Blue Devils on Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium extended their winning streak to nine and also brings up an interesting question: Could this be Jim Larranaga’s best team since he led Miami to the Sweet 16 in 2016? The Hurricanes’ small-ball approach features multiple guard sets and minimal up front, but it has its advantages — Miami only had five turnovers in the win over Duke. Larranaga is now 7-7 against the Blue Devils since becoming Miami’s head coach in 2011.

Kadary Richmond has officially arrived
Kevin Willard — and everyone else who saw Seton Hall during the preseason — was beyond effusive in their praise of Richmond, who transferred to Seton Hall after spending last season at Syracuse. He showed why on Saturday against UConn. The 6-6 sophomore came off the bench to score 27 points — including 17 straight at one point — to lead the Pirates to a memorable 90-87 overtime win. This is the most physically imposing lead guard that Willard has had at Seton Hall since Isaiah Whitehead led the Pirates to the 2016 Big East Tournament title. Richmond averaged just 6.3 points and 3.1 assists last season at Syracuse, but played regular minutes during the Orange’s run to the Sweet 16. With he and Bryce Aiken — who had 22 points and seven assists on Saturday against UConn — Seton Hall has the potential to have one of the best backcourts in the Big East.

On The Side

  • The rebuilding job that Kelvin Sampson has done at Houston (14-2) has been incredible. What’s equally as incredible? The fact that the Cougars are still the team to beat in the American Athletic Conference after season-ending injuries to both Marcus Sasser (17.7 points) and Tramon Mark (10.1 points).
  • San Diego State didn’t just obliterate Colorado State by 30 on Saturday — it obliterated Colorado State by 30 while sending an important message: The Mountain West still goes through Viejas Arena. Nine of San Diego State’s first 13 opponents have scored 60 points or less.
  • North Carolina’s season has been sporadic. Armando Bacot’s season has not. The 6-10 junior had a career-high 29 points and a career-high 21 rebounds in Saturday’s win over Virginia. Bacot entered the game averaging 15.7 points and 10.7 rebounds. The Tar Heels are 11-4 overall.
  • Northwestern (8-4) isn’t going to be expected to win today at Ohio State, but the Wildcats are eventually going to have win some games that they’re not expected to win if they hope to stay in the NCAA Tournament picture. This past week’s home loss to Penn State — a game that Northwestern led by 10 points with 10 minutes to play — was a setback.
  • One thing I didn’t think I’d write on Jan. 9th? Arkansas is 0-3 in SEC play.

Daily Specials

  • Minnesota at Indiana
  • Cincinnati at Memphis
  • Washington at Colorado
  • Northwestern at Ohio State
  • Wisconsin at Maryland

Leftovers