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The Breakfast Buffet: Auburn sent a message, Villanova, business is about to pick up for Arizona State

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

Auburn sent a message
It was only one game, but what the Tigers did to Vermont — a program that has won at least a share of the last eight America East regular season titles — cannot be understated. Wednesday night’s 51-point win included a 25-point halftime lead and featured 11 different players on the Tigers’ roster playing double figure minutes. It’s important to always take statistics from buy games with a grain of salt, but this game felt different. Next up for Bruce Pearl’s team? A date with Houston on Saturday night at the Toyota Center in what will feel like an Elite Eight caliber tilt.

Villanova’s loss to Columbia was beyond alarming
There’s bad losses and then there was what happened on Wednesday night on The Main Line. Every buy game loss is brutal, but the Wildcats’ 10-point defeat to the Lions is exceptionally troubling. Villanova gave up 90 points at home to a team in Columbia that was picked fifth in the Ivy League Preseason Poll. That’s an unfathomable statistic when you consider that the Wildcats have missed the last two NCAA Tournaments under Kyle Neptune. Two and a half years ago in 2022, Villanova played in the Final Four. Today? This program has never felt further from college basketball’s top tier.

Business is about to pick up for Arizona State
The Sun Devils were put on notice when they were blown out by Duke a few weeks ago in a Charity Exhibition at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Then on Monday night, Arizona State held off Idaho State for a seven-point win in its opener. Things are about to amplified. On Friday, the Sun Devils will travel to Las Vegas to play Santa Clara, who quietly looks like it has chance to compete for an at-large berth to the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Less than 48 hours after facing the Broncos, Bobby Hurley’s team will be in Spokane to take on Gonzaga in the first installment of a home-and-home series. A crosstown matchup with Grand Canyon — who won a game in March Madness last season — is then on the slate for next Thursday in Phoenix. All three of Arizona State’s next three opponents could conceivably play in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. This is ONLY November.

On The Side

  • UConn now 34-1 in non-conference games during the past three seasons. The Huskies’ lone loss during that span? A road defeat last December at Kansas in a game where Stephon Castle was out of the lineup with injury.
  • We won’t know how good BYU is until it plays Ole Miss in San Diego on Thanksgiving Day, but we do know that Cougars freshman Egor Demin is already appointment television. The 6-9 point guard had 18 points, 11 assists, and just one turnover in his college debut on Tuesday night against Central Arkansas.
  • Texas Tech will not play a true road game until Jan. 4th at Utah. Nine of the Red Raiders’ first 12 tilts are in Lubbock. This is the sleeper team in the Big 12.
  • Kentucky’s Kerr Kriisa has attempted 811 shots during his five-year college career. 79.8 percent of those shots have been from three-point range.
  • Looking for an under-the-radar transfer? Try Saint Mary’s Paulius Murauskas. After spending last season at Arizona, the 6-8 Murauskas is now playing primarily on the interior for the Gaels and should boast All-WCC caliber ability as early as this season. Murauskas had 14 points and 13 rebounds in Monday night’s win over Towson.

Daily Specials

  • Jacksonville at Florida
  • Montana State at Wisconsin
  • Southern at Iowa
  • Niagara at Michigan State
  • Chattanooga at Saint Mary’s

Leftovers