College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: UConn, Michigan State has a point guard, Michigan’s litmus test

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

UConn is emerging
The Huskies are one defensive stop away from being 6-0 and ranked in the Top 15 of the AP Top 25. Instead, they’re 5-1 after Tuesday night’s 65-54 win at Marquette. The most impressive thing about the victory? UConn beat a quality team on the road by double figures and James Bouknight only scored six points; he scored 40 of the Huskies’ 74 points in their lone loss to Creighton a few weeks ago. That’s the sign of a team evolving into something with legitimate promise. 

Michigan State has a point guard
He’s not Cassius Winston, Mateen Cleaves, or Kalin Lucas, but A.J. Hoggard is proving that’s capable enough to run Tom Izzo’s team. The broad shouldered floor general has a combined 11 assists to just three turnovers in Michigan State’s last two games, which have both been wins. The Spartans are appearing to be more settled as a team, which was evident in Tuesday night’s 23-point win over Rutgers. A big reason for that is the presence and poise of Hoggard. 

A litmus test for Michigan
We’ll know a lot more about the Wolverines after the next 40 minutes. Michigan enters tonight’s game against Minnesota in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten, but its four conference victories have come against teams whose combined league record is just 4-13. The Gophers should provide a stern test and already have wins over Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Saint Louis. This game will also provide a fascinating matchup between two 7-footers in the middle with Michigan freshman Hunter Dickinson and Minnesota’s Liam Robbins. Robbins played his best game of the season in Sunday night’s win over the Buckeyes, tallying 27 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks in 36 minutes.

On The Side

  • Seton Hall is 4-0 this season in games where Bryce Aiken has logged double-figure minutes. The grad transfer from Harvard still isn’t himself, but is gradually getting healthy and has done a tremendous job securing the basketball. Aiken has only committed four turnovers this season in a total of 82 minutes. The Pirates have quietly won seven of their last eight and will officially be on the national radar if they can beat Creighton tonight in Omaha.
  • Miami is the best 4-5 team in college basketball. The Hurricanes have lost their last three games by a combined five points as their starting backcourt — Chris Lykes and Kameron McGusty — are both nursing injuries. Neither played in Tuesday’s loss to North Carolina. Sam Waardenburg and Rodney Miller are also out for the year with season-ending injuries. Jim Larranaga is experiencing the epitome of brutality. 
  • Mississippi State’s combo of Iverson Molinar and DJ Stewart is the most underrated backcourt in the SEC. The duo combined for 44 points in Tuesday’s upset of Missouri; 36 came in the second half. The Bulldogs are 6-2 this season with Molinar in the lineup, with both defeats coming in double overtime.
  • Wichita State interim coach Isaac Brown will step up a weight class tonight when the Shockers travel to Houston. Brown has done yeoman’s work so far taking over for Gregg Marshall and has Wichita State on a five-game winning streak.
  • VCU looks like the Atlantic 10’s best hope for a second NCAA Tournament bid with Saint Louis firmly entrenched as the conference’s team to beat. The Rams don’t currently have any bad losses as their only defeats came against Penn State and West Virginia. MIke Rhoades’ squad is 8-2 entering this evening’s game at George Mason.

Daily Specials

  • Virginia Tech at Louisville
  • Arkansas at Tennessee
  • Minnesota at Michigan
  • Baylor at Oklahoma
  • Seton Hall at Creighton

Leftovers: