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The Breakfast Buffet: March Madness Edition

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

Dylan Darling will never pay for another drink in New York City
A year ago, the 6-1 lefty was the Big Sky Player of the Year at Idaho State. Today, he’s a cult hero after propelling St. John’s to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball. Darling’s game-winning layup over Kansas on Sunday is the type of March Madness memory that fans of the Red Storm have always salivated for, but never received. It was also Darling’s only basket of the game. The 67-65 win over the Jayhawks sends Rick Pitino’s team to a Sweet 16 matchup with Duke this week in Washington D.C. Pitino has now taken four programs —- Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, and St. John’s — to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Murphy’s Law again hits UCLA
We’ve seen this movie before. For the third time in their last four NCAA Tournaments, the Bruins dealt with a major injury to one of their best players. Just like in 2022 when Jaime Jaquez dealt with an ankle injury or in 2023 when both Jaylen Clark (achilles) and Adem Bona (shoulder) were both unavailable for March Madness, UCLA did not have Tyler Bilodeau (18.6 points, 5.6 rebounds) — its leading scorer and best offensive player — available for either of its NCAA Tournament games. We’ll never know if the Bruins — who were eliminated by UConn in a 73-57 defeat on Sunday — would have been able to push the Huskies to the brink, but no program has been more snake bitten with injuries over the past half decade at the most important time of the year than the one that resides in Westwood.

Alabama/Michigan will be one of the most intriguing games of the NCAA Tournament
We don’t know just yet if the Crimson Tide will have Aden Holloway — who’s currently suspended — available for next week’s Sweet 16 matchup in Chicago, but even if they don’t, Nate Oats’ squad has proven that it has the firepower and shooting ability to test the Wolverines’ defense. Alabama made a whopping 19 three-point shots in Sunday night’s blowout win over Texas Tech and clearly has the personnel to go over the top of Michigan’s massive frontline. A chess match awaits next week in Chicago.

On The Side

  • The ACC sent eight teams to the NCAA Tournament and only one — Duke — will play in the Sweet 16.
  • Purdue’s senior troika of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn has a combined record of 9-3 in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Nebraska is 7-3 this season in games decided by six points or fewer.
  • How bad did Kentucky miss having a true point guard after losing Jaland Lowe to a season-ending shoulder injury? The Wildcats had 11 assists and 20 turnovers in Sunday’s loss against Iowa State.
  • There will be a LIVE edition of INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW today at 1 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.

Leftovers