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The Breakfast Buffet: Liam McNeeley, Rodney Rice, Saint Mary’s

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

Liam McNeeley’s return to going to drastically change UConn
Remember what this team looked like in December? If not, I’ll refresh you. After losing three games in three days at the Maui Invitational during Thanksgiving Week, the Huskies then won seven straight games from Nov. 30th until Jan. 1st until McNeeley suffered a high ankle sprain. During that span, the 6-7 McNeeley averaged 15.1 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 35.2 percent from three-point range. He’s expected to return on Friday against St. John’s at Gampel Pavilion and his presence should immediately take immense pressure off the shoulders of guys like Solo Ball (15.0 points, 3.5 rebounds) and Alex Karaban (15.0 points, 5.1 rebounds). With McNeeley back in tow, UConn — who’s 16-6 overall — is trending towards a team that should play its best basketball in February and March.

Rodney Rice is emerging as Maryland’s X-Factor
It’s not a coincidence that the Terps have had a four-game winning streak while Rice is playing his best basketball of the season. During that span, the 6-4 Rice is averaging 15.5 points while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from three-point range. His emergence has drastically opened up the floor for Ja’Kobi Gillespie (14.6 points, 4.7 assists), Derik Queen (15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds), and Julian Reese (13.7 points, 9.1 rebounds). A former top-100 recruit, Rice only played eight games last season as a freshman at Virginia Tech before transferring and has now found a home in College Park. Maryland goes for its fifth straight win tonight against Ohio State in Columbus.

Saint Mary’s is underrated
Is it an oversight or an insult? Probably a little bit of both. The Gaels have been a model of consistency for two decades under Randy Bennett, but their current success has been somewhat forgotten. Saint Mary’s will take a 10-game winning streak and a 15-game road winning streak into tonight’s game at San Francisco. That’s a WCC storyline that should be discussed just as frequently as Gonzaga potentially entering the NCAA Tournament with its lowest seed since 2016, when it was an 11. The Gaels currently lead the Bulldogs by three games in the WCC standings. Saint Mary’s is currently 20-3 and in position to win at least a share of the WCC regular season title for the third consecutive season year.

On The Side

  • Kentucky is allowing an average of 93.5 points in back-to-back losses to Ole Miss and Arkansas.
  • Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic (hand) is still “probably a week or two away from playing”, a school spokesman told College Hoops Today on Tuesday. The 6-8 Momcilovic averages 10.3 points and has not played since Jan. 11th.
  • UCLA’s two starting guards — Dylan Andrews and Skyy Clark — have combined for 45 assists and just 12 turnovers during the Bruins’ current six-game winning streak.
  • San Diego State freshman big man Magoon Gwath is averaging 17.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in his last three games. Remember the name.
  • VCU has its best team since the 2016 squad that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament under current McNeese head coach Will Wade. The Rams are 18-5 in their second season under Ryan Odom and look good enough to win a game in March Madness if they can win the Atlantic 10 Tournament in March.

Daily Specials

  • Maryland at Ohio State
  • Loyola Marymount at Gonzaga
  • Saint Mary’s at San Francisco

Leftovers