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The Breakfast Buffet: Jaden Bradley, Vanderbilt, Arizona State/UCLA

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

Jaden Bradley should viewed as a First-Team All-American
Arizona is the number one team in the ROTHSTEIN 45 and the number one team in the AP Top 25. One of the main reasons why the Wildcats have won at such a high level during the first month and a half of this season has been due to the play at Bradley at the most important position on the floor. In wins against Florida, UCLA, UConn, Auburn, and Alabama, the veteran point guard is averaging 18.4 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 55.5 percent from three-point range. That’s the work of someone who should be viewed as a first-team All-American. Arizona is now 10-0 after Tuesday night’s win over Abilene Christian.

Vanderbilt has a big week
We’ll know a lot more about the Dores after the next 80 minutes. Vanderbilt visits Memphis tonight at FedExForum and then will face Wake Forest in Winston-Salem in Sunday. Neither of these teams are juggernauts, but it will be interesting to see how the Dores perform in back-to-back road environments. Mark Byington’s team is currently 10-0 and averaging a whopping 95.4 points.

Arizona State/UCLA
Bobby Hurley is quietly doing one of the best coaching jobs of his career and the Sun Devils — who were picked 16th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll — are 9-2 entering tonight’s game at Pauley Pavilion. Mick Cronin and the Bruins should be in a lousy mood. At 7-3, UCLA hasn’t truly helped or hurt itself yet and is on the heels of a tough loss to Gonzaga last Saturday in Seattle. The type of defensive tenacity that Cronin’s teams have always played with is lacking with this group. Keep a close eye on the point guard matchup between Arizona State’s Moe Odum (16.7 points, 6.0 assists) and UCLA’s Donovan Dent (12.0 points, 6.8 assists).

On The Side

  • USC’s Eric Musselman was Tuesday’s guest on INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW. To watch the full interview, click HERE.
  • Duke’s Jon Scheyer earned his 100th win on Tuesday night against Lipscomb. He’s now reached 100 victories faster than any other head coach in the history of the ACC.
  • Tonight’s game between Alabama and South Florida is a reunion of sorts. Bulls head coach Bryan Hodgson was an assistant for the Crimson Tide under Nate Oats from 2019-23 prior to becoming the head coach at Arkansas State. Hodgson is in his first season at South Florida.
  • Virginia’s four primary reserves — Chance Mallory, Jacari White, Ugonna Onyenso, and Devin Tillis — are combining to average 34.2 points. Don’t sleep on the Cavaliers being a top-four team in the ACC in their first season under Ryan Odom.
  • Saint Louis could take a 13-1 record into its game on Jan. 7th at VCU if it holds serve at home. The Billikens will play their next four tilts at Chaifetz Arena, starting with tonight’s game against Bethune-Cookman.

Daily Specials

  • Vanderbilt at Memphis
  • South Florida at Alabama
  • Arizona State at UCLA

Leftovers