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The Breakfast Buffet: Chaz Lanier, Georgia/Marquette, Maxime Raynaud

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

Chaz Lanier broke out for Tennessee in the Bahamas
He’s not Dalton Knecht, but Lanier is quickly cementing himself as the Vols’ go-to scorer on offense. A transfer from North Florida, the 6-4 Lanier scored a combined 51 points and was a whopping 13-22 from three-point range in two games at the Baha Mar Bahamas Hoops Championship. Tennessee dominated both Virginia and Baylor en route to the tournament title. With Rick Barnes’ defense operating in vintage form and Lanier emerging as an All-SEC caliber guard, the Vols again look primed to be a national factor after losing multiple starters from last season’s team that lost to Purdue in the Elite Eight.

Georgia/Marquette
Kam Jones (22.6 points, 6.0 assists, 5.6 rebounds) is playing like a National Player of the Year candidate, but this game is about much more than just the Golden Eagles’ star guard. Today’s tilt represents the first major showcase game of the season for Georgia freshman Asa Newell, who’s quietly playing like one of the sport’s best first-year players. The 6-11 forward is currently averaging 16.8 points and 7.2 rebounds in the Bulldogs’ first five games. Marquette has beaten Purdue and Maryland in back-to-back games.

Maxime Raynaud is the best big man that nobody is talking about
The 7-1 big man played in obscurity the past few years when Stanford was in the Pac-12, but that should change now that the Cardinal are a member of the ACC. Raynaud is averaging 21.0 points and 12.2 rebounds through five games while shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range. This guy possesses All-ACC first-team caliber potential this season. Stanford is currently 5-0 and will visit Santa Clara tonight in what should be its toughest team so far this season.

On The Side

  • Wisconsin has scored 79 or points or more in the first six games of a season for the first time in program history.
  • There’s still a lot of basketball left to be played, but St. John’s looks like it has its best team since since Steve Lavin’s first season in 2010-11. That team was a six seed in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Memphis is building an at-large resume. The Tigers have already won road games at both San Francisco and UNLV. Next up for Penny Hardaway’s team? UConn on Monday in the first round of the Maui Invitational.
  • Ohio State released a statement on Friday that Aaron Bradshaw is currently not participating in team activities. A transfer from Kentucky, the 7-1 Bradshaw is currently averaging 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds. This is a significant development to monitor in the Big Ten.
  • Is Drake’s Ben McCollum the next Josh Schertz? Don’t rule it out of the realm of possibility. Like Schertz — who’s now at Saint Louis — McCollum was a Division II head coach prior to getting an opportunity in Division 1. He’s led Drake an impressive 5-0 start in his first year with the Bulldogs, which includes a victory over Miami.

Daily Specials

  • Georgia/Marquette (Bahamas)
  • Cincinnati at Georgia Tech
  • Stanford at Santa Clara

Leftovers