College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Gonzaga/San Diego State, Kadary Richmond, Mikey Lewis

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

Gonzaga/San Diego State
The game of the night in college basketball is at Viejas Arena and it’s not even close. The Bulldogs have been arguably the most complete team in the sport through the first few weeks of the season while the Aztecs are trying to find their way with what is essentially a brand new team. San Diego State’s only returnee of significance from last season’s Sweet 16 team — Reese Waters — is currently out indefinitely with a foot injury. Brian Dutcher also told College Hoops Today on Sunday that Miles Byrd (foot) is a game-time decision for tonight’s game. In the one game that he’s played this season, Byrd tallied 20 points and eight rebounds. The rest of the Aztecs don’t have time to wait for Waters and Byrd to get healthy. This team needs to move the needle in its next four games if it’s going to put itself in position to have an at-large resume for the NCAA Tournament. After tonight’s game against Gonzaga, San Diego State will face both Creighton and Oregon next week at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas as well as another opponent that’s currently TBD. Tip off for tonight’s tilt is at 10 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.

Kadary Richmond looked like Kadary Richmond against New Mexico
Arguably the sport’s most coveted transfer during the offseason, the 6-6 Richmond had yet to look the part of an All-American candidate during the Red Storm’s first three games of the season. That all changed on Sunday. Operating with the focus of a surgeon, Richmond was sensational in Sunday’s 85-71 win against New Mexico at MSG, tallying 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals. This was the type of performance that many envisioned from Richmond when he decided to transfer from Seton Hall following last season. Rick Pitino’s team is now 4-0 and will next play Baylor on Thursday in the first round of the Baha Mar Bahamas Hoops Championship, which also features both Tennessee and Virginia.

Mikey Lewis is shining for Saint Mary’s
Many people wondered how the Gaels would replace Aidan Mahaney’s offense following last season after he decided to enter the transfer portal and head to UConn. In the last two weeks, Lewis has answered that question emphatically. Nicknamed “Buckets” before he every arrived on campus in Moraga, this 6-3 freshman had a reputation for putting the ball in the basket prior to ever playing a game in a college. He’s living up to it too, as he’s averaging 16.3 points in his first four college games, which was headlined by a 23-point effort in Sunday’s win over Nebraska. Randy Bennett’s team is now 4-0 and should be undefeated when it plays USC on Thanksgiving Day in Palm Springs.

On The Side

  • NC State will play its first legitimate game of the season tonight against Colgate in Raleigh. The Wolfpack are 3-0 and currently have eight players averaging between 6.3 points and 16.3 points. Matt Langel’s squad nearly picked off Syracuse last week in a buy game at the JMA Wireless Dome.
  • Xavier Booker has a total of 14 points and 11 rebounds in Michigan State’s first four games. It’s going to be real interesting to see how many minutes this guy winds up logging in the guts of the Spartans’ schedule unless his production level dramatically improves
  • DePaul has now won more games — four — than it did during all of last season. It’s still early, but Blue Demons AD DeWayne Peevy looks like he hit a home run by hiring Chris Holtmann.
  • A potential under-the-radar non-power conference matchup to put on your radar for this week? VCU against Nevada in the second round of the Charleston Classic on Friday if both teams advance beyond their first games in the event.
  • One thing we’ve learned already this season: NIL is a necessity in today’s college sports landscape, but a healthy NIL budget does not alone guarantee your program success. There’s a lot of teams that spent top dollar during the offseason who aren’t having great early results.

Daily Specials

  • North Texas at McNeese
  • Colgate at NC State
  • Gonzaga at San Diego State

Leftovers