College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: March Madness Edition

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

Purdue is 40 minutes away from immortality
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: This is a Final Four or bust type season for the Boilers. I’m not wavering from proclamation as Purdue gets set to play Tennessee later today in the Elite Eight (2:40 PM ET, CBS). The Boilers have lost to St. Peter’s and Fairleigh Dickinson in the past two NCAA Tournaments and last March’s loss against the Knights is unequivocally the biggest upset in the history of March Madness. Are the Vols a capable opponent? Without question. Would I be surprised if they beat Purdue today? No. But the Boilers have Zach Edey (24.6 points, 12.1 rebounds) — the first player to win National Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons since Ralph Sampson did it at Virginia in 1980s — anchoring their attack. He’s a once in a generation type talent at 7-4. For as good as Tennessee is, Matt Painter will likely never have a player who impacts the game as much as Edey in an Elite Eight game for the rest of his career. It’s Final Four or bust for Purdue.

Duke’s guards need to perform NC State
The Blue Devils’ starting perimeter of Jeremy Roach, Jared McCain, and Tyrese Proctor struggled mightily when they lost to the Wolfpack a few weeks ago in the ACC Tournament, combining to score just 23 points while shooting 7-28 from the field and 3-14 from three-point range. Duke can’t advance if it has that type of performance again today in the Elite Eight. NC State’s physical defense completely dismantled Marquette’s fluid offense on Friday in the Sweet 16, holding the Golden Eagles to just 58 points after they scored 81 in the Round of 32 against Colorado. March is defined by great guard play and later today in Dallas, that will determine whether or not the Blue Devils advance to the Final Four for the first time under Jon Scheyer. Tip off is at 5:05 PM ET on CBS.

Donovan Clingan impacts the game more for UConn at center than Adama Sanogo did a year ago
That isn’t to say that Sanogo — who was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 NCAA Tournament — wasn’t a dominant physical specimen that couldn’t be stopped last season on the low block. He was. The 7-3 Clingan though, completely alters how the Huskies’ opponents can play on offense. On Saturday night against Illinois, the Illini continually attempted to challenge Clingan at the front of the rim — he would have none of it. UConn’s sophomore big man finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in the 25-point victory, but Clingan’s true value is the shots that he alters away from the rim — not just the shots that he blocks. The Huskies were dominant a year ago, but they’re more dominant this season because of Clingan’s presence in the middle.

On The Side

  • Purdue’s average margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament is 26.3 points.
  • Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler is averaging 11.7 points, 7.7 assists, and 3.3 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament. Remember: The Vols didn’t have this guy available last year during March Madness due to a torn ACL.
  • NC State’s matchup today with Duke is the Wolfpack’s first appearance in the Elite Eight since 1986.
  • Illinois entered its Elite Eight matchup with UConn averaging 85.7 points in the postseason. It only scored 52 against the Huskies.
  • Anyone else think that Alabama’s Mark Sears is a poor man’s Jalen Brunson? The Crimson Tide’s star guard is averaging 24.3 points, five rebounds, and 3.8 assists in the NCAA Tournament.

Leftovers