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
Florida is playing its best basketball of the season
The Gators have quietly won seven of their last eight games entering tonight’s matchup with Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It’s the best run that this program has had under Todd Golden. While Florida’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2021 feels imminent, the Gators can also improve their potential seed during March Madness with a strong close to the regular season. Three Quad 1 opportunities remain on the board for Florida prior to the SEC Tournament as this team will play Alabama twice and also travel to South Carolina on March 2nd. Golden has done yeoman’s work with the Gators’ offense, which is averaging 83.9 points during this recent eight-game stretch. Florida only averaged 71.9 points last season.
Creighton went “over the top” of UConn
How do you beat the Huskies when Donovan Clingan single handedly alters your offensive attack simply by standing in the middle of the paint? Make a ridiculous amount of three-point shots to make the 7-3 sophomore obsolete. That’s what happened on Tuesday night in Omaha when the Bluejays shot a whopping 14-28 from three-point range en route to an 85-66 win. The victory snapped UConn’s 14-game winning streak. Creighton shot 54.7 percent from the field against the Huskies and was 50 percent from three-point range. This was an out-of-body offensive performance against one of the top defensive teams in the sport.
Adou Thiero is emerging as a critical piece for Kentucky
Small ball worked for the Wildcats early in the season and it worked for them in Saturday’s win at Auburn as well. Thiero’s presence as bouncy power forward is an integral part of that formula. The 6-8 sophomore missed a month during the middle of the season due to injury, but has made a major impact upon his return. In games this season where he’s logged 25 minutes or more, Thiero is averaging 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds. Beyond his statistics, Thiero can have a great impact on a game by not demanding shots; that’s a critical attribute when you’re a part of a roster that boasts D.J. Wagner, Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard, and Antonio Reeves. Kentucky returns to action tonight at LSU.
On The Side
- Houston is only allowing an average of 56 points at home during Big 12 play.
- Justin Moore is starting to turn a corner for Villanova. The fifth-year guard has hit double-figures in back-to-back games and had 13 in Tuesday night’s win over Butler. Kyle Neptune’s team is now 15-11 and trending towards playing its way into the NCAA Tournament if it can finish well down the stretch.
- Loyola Chicago is 8-2 this season in games decided by six points or fewer. Winning close games has always been a consistent theme with teams who have turnaround seasons.
- Texas’ Dylan Disu is averaging 22.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in his last four games. Those are comparable numbers to what Disu averaged in the NCAA Tournament last March before he went out of the lineup with a foot injury.
- Memphis has 351 assists to 355 turnovers. Yikes!
Daily Specials
- Illinois at Penn State
- Duke at Miami
- Florida at Alabama
- Kentucky at LSU
- Colorado State at New Mexico
Leftovers
- The Breakfast Buffet: Kansas/Iowa State, Jaxson Robinson, Mike White
- The Breakfast Buffet: Indiana eyes a signature win against Illinois, St. John’s bench, SEC needs to a better job spacing out games
- Episode 481 — Ole Miss’ Chris Beard
- The Breakfast Buffet: Jeremy Fears, UCLA is desperate for a win against Rutgers, the Mountain West
- The Breakfast Buffet: Cooper Flagg is taking things to another level, Kentucky, RJ Luis
