College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Lamont Paris, UConn’s defense, New Mexico

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

Lamont Paris has turned South Carolina into an SEC title contender
The Gamecocks were picked last the SEC Preseason Poll, but in the past week they’ve beaten Kentucky at home and won in Knoxville against Tennessee. South Carolina’s 18-3 start is easily one of the biggest surprises in college basketball, especially when you consider that this program only won 11 games a year ago in its first campaign under Paris. Just as he did when he was the head coach of Chattanooga, the 49-year old Paris — who was an assistant under Bo Ryan at Wisconsin when the Badgers advanced to back-to-back Final Fours in 2014 and 2015 — has built a capable team based on minimizing mistakes, controlling the tempo, and being physical defensively. This is one of the rising stars in the coaching profession.

UConn’s defense has been amplified with Donovan Clingan’s return
The numbers don’t lie. The Huskies went 5-0 when Clingan was out with a foot injury, but allowed an average of 68.8 points when he was unavailable. In the three games since he returned to the lineup, UConn is only allowing an average of just 56.3 points. It’s not the shots that the 7-3 Clingan blocks that truly stand out — it’s the shots that he alters. His return makes the defending national champions into a team that it simply feels impossible to score against. The Huskies go for their ninth straight win tonight against Providence at Gampel Pavilion.

New Mexico looks like college basketball’s best non-power conference team
Better than everyone else in the Mountain West? It definitely has a higher ceiling. Better than both Dayton and Florida Atlantic? That’s the way it feels. Now that the Lobos are fully healthy, they’re as aesthetically pleasing as any team in college basketball. When the season started, there was a strong belief that Richard Pitino could take this program back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. As time progresses, there’s a growing sentiment that New Mexico could very well advance in the bracket once it gets to March Madness because of its explosive offense. During their current five-game winning streak, the Lobos are averaging 91.2 points. Boise State is up next for this squad — who is now 18-3 — tonight in Albuquerque.

On The Side

  • Northwestern’s Boo Buie (18.5 points, 5.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds) is 137 points away from becoming the Wildcats’ all-time leading scorer. The Wildcats visit Purdue tonight at Mackey Arena. 
  • Saturday’s game between UConn and St. John’s at MSG is expected to be a sellout, a source told College Hoops Today this week. This is arguably the most anticipated regular season game that the Red Storm have played in over 20 years. Rick Pitino’s team returns to action tonight against Xavier at the Cintas Center.  
  • Since losing Caleb Mills to a season-ending knee injury, Memphis is just 3-3 and giving up an average of 83 points. 
  • Quinnipiac is 16-4 and off to its best start since the 1978-79 season. There’s not many mid-major head coaches in the Northeast doing a better job than Tom Pecora.
  • College Hoops Today reported on Monday that Mohegan Sun will host two early season tournaments during the 2024-25 season. Providence will play UMass and Temple will face Boston College in the first round of the first event while the second event will feature a mid-major field. 

Daily Specials

  • Northwestern at Purdue
  • Alabama at Georgia
  • Florida at Kentucky
  • Providence at UConn
  • Boise State at New Mexico

Leftovers