College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Things are about to get real for Michigan, Baylor/Marquette, UConn’s bench

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

Things are about to get real for Michigan
We’ll know a lot more about the Wolverines after the next 80 minutes. Michigan (5-1) will host Virginia (5-0) tonight in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and then travel to London to play Kentucky (4-2) on Saturday. That’s a big jump in weight class when you consider how this team has played over the last few weeks. The Wolverines lost to Arizona State by 25 in the title game of the Legends Classic on Nov. 17th and then needed overtime to beat Ohio three days later in Ann Arbor. A 10-point win followed over winless Jackson State. The rubber is about to meet the road for Juwan Howard’s squad.

Baylor/Marquette
Great guards meet a great pressure defense tonight in Milwaukee in what should be an electric atmosphere at Fiserv Forum. Baylor’s perimeter nucleus of LJ Cryer, Adam Flagler, Keyonte George, and Dale Bonner is as poised and seasoned as any in the sport. They’ll need to be tonight against Marquette’s relentless pressure as the Golden Eagles have forced a total of 49 turnovers in their last three games. The quartet of Cryer, Flagler, George, and Bonner currently has a combined assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5:1 and is averaging 57.2 points as a unit. This is one of the best games in this season’s Big East-Big 12 Battle.

UConn’s bench is a massive weapon
The Huskies’ reserves averaged 26.7 points in three games over the weekend at the PK85 in Portland, highlighted by a 40-point effort against Iowa State in the title game. It should be noted that this is all happening with 6-10 sophomore Samson Johnson — who was a starter at power forward in UConn’s opener against Stonehill — out of the lineup due to a foot injury. Dan Hurley told College Hoops Today last week that Johnson “could return in early December”. There’s a lot of reasons to be bullish about the Huskies’ 8-0 start — one of them is their tremendous pop in reserve.

On The Side

  • Brad Underwood said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast that Illinois sophomore Luke Goode (foot) is rehabbing and “hopes to be back and available for the first of the year or around there”. The 6-7 Goode only averaged 2 PPG and 1.8 RPG last season as a freshman, but “would have been a starter” for the Illini this season, according to Underwood. Illinois (5-1) hosts Syracuse tonight in ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
  • Oklahoma has now won six straight games following a loss in its opener against Sam Houston. The Sooners beat three power conference teams — Nebraska, Seton Hall, and Ole Miss — to win the ESPN Invitational over the weekend and have tangible momentum entering December. 
  • Mason Miller — the son of former NBA star Mike Miller — is a name to watch in reserve for Creighton. The 6-9 lefty — who redshirted last season — is a potent shot maker who can extend the defense. Mason Miller is currently averaging 4.6 points in 12.6 minutes while shooting 8-11 from three-point range.
  • Depth is a real concern for Notre Dame (5-1). The Irish currently only have six players — J.J. Starling, Dane Goodwin, Cormac Ryan, Trey Wertz, Nate Laszewski, and Ven-Allen Lubin — averaging double figure minutes. Mike Brey told College Hoops Today that Marcus Hammond (knee) — who averaged 18.1 points last season at Niagara before transferring to Notre Dame — is a game-time decision for Wednesday’s game against Michigan State in South Bend.
  • Three Mountain West teams not named San Diego State — New Mexico, UNLV, and Utah State — are all still undefeated. 

Daily Specials

  • Syracuse at Illinois (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
  • Baylor at Marquette (Big East-Big 12 Battle)
  • Georgia Tech at Iowa (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
  • Virginia at Michigan (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
  • Wake Forest at Wisconsin (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)

Leftovers