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The Breakfast Buffet: Kansas’ depth will be tested against Marquette, Purdue/Tennessee, Alex Karaban

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

Kansas’ depth will be tested against Marquette
The Jayhawks are the No. 1 team in the ROTHSTEIN 45, but their depth will be severely tested today in Hawaii. Kansas’ starting five — Dajuan Harris, Elmarko Jackson, Kevin McCullar, KJ Adams, and Hunter Dickinson — is as good as any opening unit in the sport, but there’s a drop off after that. That’s not necessarily the case with Marquette, who had a reserve — Sean Jones — hit the game-winning shot in Monday night’s 71-69 win over UCLA. Another reserve — Chase Ross — was on the floor in crunch for the Golden Eagles. If the Jayhawks get into early foul trouble, it favors Marquette immensely.

Purdue/Tennessee is a Final Four caliber game
A word to the wise: Don’t show up for this tilt if you’re soft. This semifinal matchup in the Maui Invitational between the Boilers and the Vols is a rematch of the 2019 Sweet 16, which Purdue won in overtime. A key thing to watch in this game? The showdown at power forward between Tennessee’s Josiah-Jordan James and Purdue’s tandem of Trey Kaufman-Renn and Mason Gillis. The 6-6 James is finally healthy and thriving. He had a double-double —15 points and 12 rebounds — in Monday’s win over Syracuse. It will be interesting to see how both Kaufman-Renn and Gillis deal with his elusiveness. This game has the feel of March Madness even though it’s mid-November.

Alex Karaban is officially out of the “Witness Protection Program”
It wasn’t an oversight — it was an insult. Despite being a starter at power forward for UConn during last season’s run to a national title, Karaban didn’t receive much preseason attention when people discussed the Huskies. It’s not going to stay that way for long. The 6-8 sophomore was sensational down the stretch in UConn’s 81-71 win over Texas in the finals of the Empire Classic on Monday night at MSG, tallying 20 points and six rebounds while making several key shots down the stretch. Karaban shot 8-14 from the floor and 4-8 from three-point range. “You can see the growth,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said of Karaban on Monday. “It’s only going to continue through the weeks and months to come.” Through five games, Karaban is averaging 16.8 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 40.7 percent from three-point range.

On The Side

  • Jaedon LeDee is having the type of season for San Diego State that Obi Toppin had for Dayton in 2019-20. Through five games, the 6-9 LeDee is averaging 26.8 points and 10.6 rebounds. There’s not five players in the sport playing better than this guy.
  • UCLA freshman Sebastian Mack scored 25 points, grabbed six rebounds, and was 13-13 from the free throw line on Monday against Marquette. It was the first game of his college career against a power conference opponent. Remember the name.
  • Rodney Terry wouldn’t commit to a timetable for either Dylan Disu (foot) or Kadin Shedrick (shoulder) to return to the lineup for Texas, but he does have a long-term plan. “We’re playing the long game with both of them,” Terry said after Texas’ loss to UConn on Monday. “We want them to be right for the whole season.” Shedrick — a transfer from Virginia — scored 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds on Sunday against Louisville, but did not play against UConn. Disu has not played this season.
  • Arizona freshman Motiejus Krivas is entering the discussion regarding the best reserve post players in the sport. The 7-2 big man is averaging 12 points and 5.8 rebounds in just 17 minutes. This a valuable backup for the Wildcats behind Oumar Ballo.
  • Louisville was competitive in back-to-back days at MSG against Texas and Indiana, but failed to earn a victory in either game. The Cards were outscored 13-2 on Monday in the final few minutes against the Hoosiers en route to an eight-point defeat. “We’re close, but we’re just not there yet,” Louisville head coach Kenny Payne said following the loss. Louisville has two more power conference games remaining on its non-conference schedule: At DePaul on Dec. 9th and Kentucky on Dec. 21st at the KFC Yum Center.

Daily Specials

  • Gonzaga/Syracuse (Maui Invitational)
  • Colorado/Florida State (Daytona Beach)
  • La Salle at Duke
  • Purdue/Tennessee (Maui Invitational)
  • Kansas/Marquette (Maui Invitational)

Leftovers