College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: The Champions Classic, Koby Brea, Villanova/St. Joe’s

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

The Champions Classic
The sport’s annual early season tip-off event takes place tonight in Atlanta and features a delicious doubleheader of Kansas/Michigan State and Duke/Kentucky. The Jayhawks — who beat North Carolina at home last Friday — are a heavy favorite against the Spartans. The second game meanwhile, features Mark Pope’s first game against a power conference opponent as Kentucky’s head coach and Cooper Flagg’s first showcase game as a college player. The 6-9 freshman is averaging 15.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks during the Blue Devils’ first two games.

Koby Brea has quietly been elite to start the 2024-25 season
I never put too much of an emphasis on what players are doing statistically in buy games, but Brea — who was universally viewed as college basketball’s best shooter last season when he was at Dayton — is currently on a tear. Through two games, the 6-7 wing is averaging 19.0 points and is 14-19 (73.7 percent) from the field and 10-12 (83.3 percent) from three-point range. That’s video game like shooting percentages. A year ago, Brea made 100 three-point shots and shot 49.8 percent from long distance. We’ll see how he performs tonight as he steps up a weight class against Duke in the Champions Classic.

Villanova/St. Joe’s
Prior to this season, this matchup was immediately circled on the schedule because it’s a rivalry game in the Big 5. That was before the Wildcats lost to Columbia in a buy game last week and the Hawks did the same against Central Connecticut. Tonight’s tilt at Hagan Arena is now a desperate attempt for both of these teams to avoid an early second defeat. These next 40 minutes are especially critical for Villanova, who lost Big 5 games last season to Drexel, St. Joe’s, and Penn. Tip off is at 5 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.

On The Side

  • Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard has 22 assists and just two turnovers in his first two games. I’ll say it again: This is the least appreciated guard in college basketball.
  • Villanova transfer Brendan Hausen has quickly found a home at Kansas State. The 6-4 wing is averaging 19.5 points during his first two games with the Wildcats and is 10-18 from three-point range during that span.
  • How is Wisconsin going to replace AJ Storr? Missouri transfer John Tonje. The 6-5 veteran is averaging 17.7 points through three games. Greg Gard’s team is 3-0 and will next host Arizona on Friday night in Madison.
  • Cincinnati’s Dan Skillings had a minor procedure on his knee and will miss the next few weeks, a source told College Hoops Today on Monday. The 6-5 guard had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
  • Michigan State’s Tom Izzo was this week’s guest on the College Hoops Today Podcast.

Daily Specials

  • Villanova at St. Joe’s
  • Kansas/Michigan State (Champions Classic)
  • Duke/Kentucky (Champions Classic)
  • Colgate at Syracuse
  • Akron at Saint Mary’s

Leftovers