The Breakfast Buffet: Jarace Walker, Michigan State, Murphy’s Law is hitting UConn

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 Jarace Walker sends […] The post The Breakfast Buffet: Jarace Walker, Michigan State, Murphy’s Law is hitting UConn appeared first on College Hoops Today.

The Breakfast Buffet: Jarace Walker, Michigan State, Murphy’s Law is hitting UConn

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

Jarace Walker sends an early message
Houston’s star freshman made a major impression in Friday night’s Veterans Classic against St. Joe’s, finishing with 23 points and eight rebounds in a 26-point victory. A five-star prospect, Walker is tailor made for the Cougars’ program. One thing that’s underrated about his game? Offensive versatility. The 6-8 forward was 2-4 from three-point range against St. Joe’s as he regularly displayed comfort facing the basket on offense. Expect Walker’s star to continue to rise this season as Houston aims for another high seed in the NCAA Tournament under Kelvin Sampson.

Michigan State showed promise in defeat against Gonzaga
There’s no such thing as a moral victory — especially when Tom Izzo is your head coach — but Michigan State showed that it has the prowess yet again to compete with the best teams in college basketball. The Spartans’ one-point loss to Gonzaga on Friday night in San Diego was disappointing because of the end result, but it was encouraging because Michigan State led one of the top teams in the country for the majority of 40 minutes before coming up one possession short. The Spartans will move up in this week’s ROTHSTEIN 45 despite the defeat. Things don’t get any easier for this team. Michigan State’s next game will be Tuesday in the Champions Classic against Kentucky in Indianapolis.

Murphy’s Law is hitting UConn
We’ve seen this movie before. Two years ago, the Huskies lost James Bouknight for an extended period of time when they first returned to the national scene under Dan Hurley. Then last season, multiple injuries —- including one to current Big East Preseason Player of the Year Adama Sanogo — completely disrupted the rhythm of this team. History is repeating itself. Despite a 2-0 start, UConn currently has three starters — Jordan Hawkins (concussion), Andre Jackson (finger), and Samson Johnson (foot) — out of the lineup. None played in Friday’s win over Boston University. Hurley has proven that he can get the most out of his team with limited resources, but he needs UConn to get to full strength when the schedule picks up in a few weeks. The Huskies have three buy games left before they play Oregon in the first round of the PK85 on Thanksgiving night in Portland.

On The Side

  • Ohio State has a future star in freshman Brice Sensabaugh. Through two games, the 6-6 wing is averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in just 18 minutes. Buy stock now.
  • Shaheen Holloway will face his old team today as Seton Hall (1-0) hosts St. Peter’s (1-0) in Newark. Holloway was the head coach of the Peacocks for four seasons and led St. Peter’s to the Elite Eight last March before returning to his alma mater.
  • Kansas’ Dajuan Harris has 13 assists and just one turnover in his first two games — that’s utterly ridiculous.
  • Marquette freshman Sean Jones has a chance to emerge into one of the best on-ball defenders in the Big East. Shaka Smart has already called the 5-10 point guard “the fastest person that he’s ever coached”. Remember the name.
  • Towson’s 12-point win at UMass on Thursday night reiterated that the Tigers have the requisites to be a dangerous double-digit seed if they can reach the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Remember: Towson returned four starters from last season’s team that won 25 games and the CAA regular season title.

Daily Specials

  • Green Bay at Georgetown
  • St. Peter’s at Seton Hall
  • Lafayette at St. John’s
  • Washington State at Boise State
  • Georgia Tech at Georgia State

The post The Breakfast Buffet: Jarace Walker, Michigan State, Murphy’s Law is hitting UConn appeared first on College Hoops Today.