College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Aidan Mahaney, Auburn/Iowa State, John Tonje

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

Aidan Mahaney is a major key for UConn at the Maui Invitational and beyond
Dan Hurley said a few weeks ago on the College Hoops Today Podcast that if the Huskies are going to content for a third straight national title that they need Mahaney to perform “somewhere in between where Tristen Newton was in his first year at UConn and where Cam Spencer was in his first year at UConn”. The 6-3 Mahaney — who transferred from Saint Mary’s — is only averaging 5.8 points and 2.3 assists through the first four games of the season after averaging 13.9 points in each of the first two years of his college career. The weight class for both he and UConn goes up to a different level today against Memphis in the first round of the Maui Invitational. Both Hurley and the Huskies need this guy to be a player. We’re going to know a lot more about both Mahaney and UConn after the next 72 hours.

Auburn/Iowa State is an Elite Eight caliber game
Are we sure that it’s ONLY November? Today’s matchup between the Tigers and Cyclones in Maui feels like a game that could be played in late-March or early-April. Auburn currently possesses arguably the most impressive win that we’ve seen this season — beating Houston at the Toyota Center on Nov. 9th — while Iowa State has yet to play against a power conference opponent. Both teams enter today’s game with six different players averaging 9.3 points or more. There’s going to be a really good basketball team that loses this game and winds up playing in the consolation bracket on Tuesday.

John Tonje has been a revelation for Wisconsin
It’s time to stop talking about Tonje like he’s just a great pickup out of the transfer portal because he’s much more than that. Through seven games, the 6-5 guard — who only appeared in eight games last season at Missouri due to injury — is averaging 23.0 points and 5.4 rebounds. He had 33 in Sunday night’s win over Pitt and was an impressive 10-10 from the free throw. Tonje has attempted 63 free throws in seven games and made 60 — that’s 95.2 percent. This guy is playing like an All-Big Ten First-Team caliber player for the Badgers, who are 7-0 for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Wisconsin is also the scoring the basketball better than it’s ever scored the basketball in the history of its program. Until this season, the Badgers had never scored 79 points or more in the first seven games of a season.

On The Side

  • Creighton’s Steven Ashworth has been diagnosed with a badly sprained ankle, Greg McDermott told College Hoops Today on Sunday. There is no timetable for a return. The 6-foot Ashworth is averaging 16.0 points and 6.4 assists. The Jays will next play San Diego State on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
  • Following last week’s loss at Marquette, Matt Painter inserted both Myles Colvin and Cam Heide into Purdue’s starting lineup on Saturday against Marshall. The duo combined for 26 points and five rebounds in a 35-point victory. This shift allows Trey Kaufman-Renn (17.7 points, 6.0 rebounds) to slide down and play center, where he should be most effective.
  • Arkansas’ D.J. Wagner and Johnell Davis are a combined 9-35 from three-point range entering tonight’s game against Maryland Eastern Shore.
  • Things aren’t going to get any easier for Rutgers. After Sunday’s loss at Kennesaw State, the Scarlet Knights will play back-to-back games against Notre Dame and Alabama on Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas followed by a third game on Saturday in Sin City against an opponent that’s currently TBD. That precedes a road game at Ohio State on Dec. 7th. Yikes!
  • St. John’s Kadary Richmond is 7-of-17 from the foul line this season —- that’s just 41.2 percent.

Daily Specials

  • UConn/Memphis (Maui Invitational)
  • Michigan State/Colorado State (Maui Invitational)
  • Xavier/South Carolina (Fort Myers Tip-Off)
  • Auburn/Iowa State (Maui Invitational)
  • North Carolina/Dayton (Maui Invitational)

Leftovers