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The Breakfast Buffet: Dan Hurley, Andre Jackson, San Diego State aims to become first non power conference national champion since 1990

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, the morning column 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

Dan Hurley is finally entrenched in the Hurley family spotlight
It’s well documented that Hurley — who will lead UConn against San Diego State tonight in the national title game (9:20 PM ET, CBS) — has always felt that he was the second-best point guard in his family and the second-best coach. That’s because his brother Bobby — who’s currently the head coach at Arizona State — was arguably the best point guard in college basketball history after his career at Duke and his father Bob Hurley Sr. — who had a legendary coaching career at St. Anthony in Jersey City — is already enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Tonight though, Dan Hurley will finally have all eyes on him as leads the Huskies in their quest for a fifth national title.

Andre Jackson has to make quality decisions against San Diego State’s defense
The 6-6 point forward has been near flawless for UConn in the NCAA Tournament with his ball security as he takes an assist-to-turnover ratio of 35:8 in the NCAA Tournament into tonight’s national title game against San Diego State. Jackson’s ability to continue that type of decision making will be paramount in the Huskies’ quest to beat the Aztecs. UConn cannot give San Diego State easy opportunities to score, especially after it committed 15 turnovers as a team on Saturday against Miami.

San Diego State aims to be the first non power conference national champion since 1990
Not since Jerry Tarkanian and UNLV won it all 33 years ago has a team outside of a power conference won the national title. The Aztecs will aim to end that streak tonight in Houston against UConn. Since 1990, four other programs — Utah (1998), Memphis (2008), Butler (2010 and 2011), and Gonzaga (2017 and 2021) — from non power conferences have reached the national title game.

On The Side

  • San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher will participate in his fourth national title game tonight UConn. He was an assistant at Michigan when the Wolverines played in the title game in 1989, 1992, and 1993.
  • UConn is 14-1 this season in games where Naheim Alleyne scores eight or more points.
  • Tonight’s national title game is a rematch of a Sweet 16 matchup between UConn and San Diego State in 2011. The Huskies won that game en route to their third national title under Jim Calhoun.
  • UConn has assisted on 62.6 percent of its made field goals this season. A year ago, the Huskies only assisted on 52.2 percent of their made field goals.
  • Has anyone in college basketball had a worse offseason than Michigan? The Wolverines’ top three scorers — Hunter Dickinson, Jett Howard, and Kobe Bufkin — have all announced their intentions to leave the program after an 18-16 season. Dickinson — who led Michigan in both scoring and rebounding — has entered the transfer portal while both Howard and Bufkin plan to enter the 2023 NBA Draft.

Leftovers