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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

UCLA needs more out of Johnny Juzang to get back to the Final Four
The hero of last year’s NCAA Tournament is only averaging 11.5 points while shooting just 1-5 from three-point range in the Bruins’ first two NCAA Tournament games. That has to improve if UCLA is going to advance to its second straight Final Four. Juzang hasn’t scored at least 20 points in a game since Feb. 8th. He averaged 22.8 points in six NCAA Tournament games last season.

Duke/Texas Tech will be a battle of experience against youth
Don’t expect talent to be the overriding factor in this game. The average age in the Blue Devils’ starting five is 19. The average age in the Red Raiders’ starting five is 22. Something’s gotta give when these two teams meet in the Sweet 16 on Thursday in San Francisco. Tip off is currently slated for 9:39 PM ET on CBS.

St. Peter’s is still playing for history
The Peacocks are one of three No. 15 seeds in NCAA Tournament history to reach the Sweet 16. They’re also the unlikeliest. The two other 15 seeds that previously reached the Sweet 16 — Florida Gulf Coast (2013) and Oral Roberts (2021) — all had more in their favor than St. Peter’s. Florida Gulf Coast won a game nine years ago against Miami during the regular season prior to its March run while Oral Roberts had the nation’s top scorer a year ago in Max Abmas (24.5). St. Peter’s is on an island by itself. The Peacocks are one win away from being the first 15 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament to reach the Elite Eight. St. Peter’s will face Purdue on Friday night in Philadelphia. Tip off is at 7:09 PM on CBS.

Kevin Willard’s expectations will be higher at Maryland than at Seton Hall
To Willard’s credit, he turned Seton Hall’s program into a perennial contender for an NCAA Tournament bid and a regular threat to finish at the top of the Big East. At Maryland, he will be evaluated based on how he performs in the NCAA Tournament. Since Maryland won a national title in 2002 — the only national title in program history — it has only been to the Sweet 16 twice. One of those trips came the very next year in 2003 under Gary Williams and the other trip came in 2016 under Willard’s predecessor, Mark Turgeon. This will be the annual bar for Maryland fans moving forward under Willard.

Fresh faces are coming to the SEC
Five jobs from this conference — Georgia, Florida, Missouri, Mississippi State, and South Carolina — have opened since the end of the regular season. Four of those jobs — Florida, Missouri, Mississippi State, and South Carolina — were filled by mid-major coaches in Todd Golden (San Francisco), Dennis Gates (Cleveland State), Chris Jans (New Mexico State), and Lamont Paris (Chattanooga). The head coaching vacancy at Georgia was filled by Mike White, had been Florida’s head coach since 2015.

Leftovers