College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Iowa/Iowa State, Keaton Wagler, Texas’ trip to UConn feels like a visit to the abyss

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

Iowa/Iowa State
What can the Cyclones do for an encore after beating top-ranked Purdue by 23 points last Saturday at Mackey Arena? It’s real simple — beat their in-state rival tonight at Hilton Coliseum. The Hawkeyes are 8-1 in their first season under Ben McCollum, but they’ve yet to face a team as physical, connected, and explosive as Iowa State. Keep a close eye on Bennett Stirtz (18.8 points, 4.9 assists), Iowa’s All-American point guard who’s going to have to produce at an extremely high level if the Hawkeyes are going to have a chance to pull the upset. Stirtz is the only player on Iowa’s roster that’s currently averaging in double figures.

Keaton Wagler is emerging for Illinois
Brad Underwood was bullish on Wagler during the preseason and as we approach mid-December, he’s starting to live up to the billing. The 6-6 freshman is averaging 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in back-to-back wins over Tennessee and Ohio State all while playing with the poise of an upperclassmen. Wagler also has only committed two turnovers during that span. His continued progression is another reason why the Illini have a chance once again to be one of the best teams in the Big Ten. 

Texas’ first true road game feels like a trip to the abyss
That’s another way that opponents sometimes describe playing at UConn. Friday night’s game at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford is the equivalent of pushing a boulder up a hill if you’re the Longhorns, who haven’t truly helped or hurt themselves yet in their first season under Sean Miller. Texas has a neutral site win on its resume over NC State, but also lost neutral site games against both Duke and Arizona State. It was also blown out last week in Austin against an improved Virginia team. Playing on the Huskies’ home floor on Friday night in Hartford will be something completely different than all of those experiences.

On The Side

  • Both of the regular season meetings between Duke and Louisville will occur in January.
  • The Big 12 is currently 120-29 as a conference. That’s a winning percentage of 80.5 percent.
  • St. John’s only has 136 assists to 104 turnovers as a team. The rhythm and chemistry for Rick Pitino’s team is still a major work in progress.
  • Bobby Hurley is at his best with his back against the wall. Arizona State was picked 16th — dead last — in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, but is 8-2 after 10 games and has been one of the season’s biggest surprises.
  • Buffalo’s George Halcovage is quietly engineering a massive turnaround in Western New York. The Bulls improved to 9-1 following Tuesday night’s win over UMBC, which ties their win total for all of last season. 

Daily Specials

  • Western Carolina at Virginia Tech
  • Iowa at Iowa State
  • St. Joe’s at Syracuse

Leftovers