College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Houston gets a signature win, Auburn won in the mud against Tennessee, Murderer’s Row begins for Indiana

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

Houston gets a signature win
24 hours ago, the Cougars didn’t own a Quad 1 victory. That is now a distant memory. Houston’s 92-86 double overtime win on Saturday night at Kansas was one of the best games we’ve seen during the 2024-25 college basketball season and a victory that personifies the toughness and grit that exists within the Cougars’ program. There were multiple times where it seemed like the Jayhawks had insurmountable leads with little time to spare, but none of those circumstances broke the Cougars’ will. Holding an 86-84 lead in the second overtime, Houston big man J’Wan Roberts — who finished with 24 points and nine rebounds — literally out muscled Hunter Dickinson on the offensive glass for a put back that made it a two possession game. It was a play that epitomized what the Cougars’ program embodies under Kelvin Sampson, who is 23-3 in Big 12 regular season games in the past two seasons.

Auburn won in the mud against Tennesssee
To win six games in the NCAA Tournament en route to a national title, a team has to prove that it can win playing different styles. That’s what the Tigers did on Saturday night against Tennessee. Bruce Pearl’s squad entered the matchup with the Vols averaging 85.7 points, but found a way to come from behind and grind out a 53-51 victory. Auburn now owns wins over four teams — Tennessee, Houston, Iowa State, and Purdue — that were ranked in the Top 11 of last week’s AP Top 25.

Murderer’s Row begins for Indiana
The guts of the Hoosiers’ Big Ten schedule is here and it will ultimately determine whether or not this program plays in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Indiana will host Maryland today in Bloomington (Noon ET, CBS) and then play back-to-back road games at Purdue and Wisconsin. Mike Woodson’s team will then return home to host Michigan followed by a trip to East Lansing to play Michigan State. The matchup with the Spartans precedes back-to-back home games UCLA and Purdue. That’s seven straight games for the Hoosiers that will all be either Quad 1 or 2 opportunities. Indiana is currently 14-6 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten play.

On The Side

  • UConn’s Liam McNeeley (ankle) participated in shootaround prior to Saturday’s game against Xavier and is progressing towards a return, a source told College Hoops Today. The 6-7 freshman has not played since Jan. 1st and averages 13.6 points and 5.8 rebounds.
  • Wisconsin’s John Blackwell (16.4 points, 4.7 rebounds) has already made 25 more field goals this year as a sophomore than he did during all of last season as a freshman. I’ll say it again: This is the least appreciated guard in the Big Ten and one of the least appreciated players in all of college basketball. The Badgers will host Nebraska today in Madison.
  • Illinois big man Tomislav Ivisic has been diagnosed with mono and is OUT for today’s game against Northwestern, Brad Underwood told College Hoops Today on Saturday. The 7-1 Ivisic did not play in the Illini’s last game and averages 13.0 points and 8.5 rebounds. This is a massive blow to this team’s interior. Illinois has lost two straight games.
  • The sleeper game of the day in college basketball is at FedExForum as Memphis hosts UAB. Blazers big man Yaxel Lendeborg (16.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists) is one of the sport’s hidden gems. Just like last season, Andy Kennedy has a potential bid stealer to monitor out of the AAC.
  • Saint Mary’s has won 14 straight road games — the longest streak in Division 1.

Daily Specials

  • Maryland at Indiana
  • Nebraska at Wisconsin
  • UAB at Memphis
  • Northwestern at Illinois
  • Oklahoma State at Texas Tech

Leftovers