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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

Brady Manek continues to be the X-Factor for North Carolina
Hubert Davis made it abundantly clear when he became North Carolina’s head coach that he wanted to play with a stretch four-man at power forward. His first one is pretty special. The Tar Heels improved to 20-4 this season when Manek scores in double figures following Thursday night’s 63-43 win over Virginia at the Barclays Center. A transfer from Oklahoma, the 6-9 Manek had 21 points and seven rebounds in the victory. As Manek goes, so do the Tar Heels. North Carolina will face Virginia Tech tonight in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.

Villanova/UConn
This is what Friday night at the Big East Tournament is supposed to be about. It’s also the reason why the Huskies made an attempt to leave the American Athletic Conference a few years ago to return to their Big East roots. The third game of the season between these two programs tonight at the World’s Most Famous Arena in the Big East Tournament semifinals should be beyond electric, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s title game. Villanova and UConn have split two meetings this season.

Arizona needs a healthy Kerr Kriisa to get to a Final Four
The level of tension in Tucson is exceptionally high after this injury. Kriisa — the Wildcats’ most indispensable piece — suffered a sprained ankle at the end of Thursday’s win over Stanford in Las Vegas and Tommy Lloyd said postgame that Kriisa’s status moving forward is TBD. That’s a big potential blow for Arizona. One of the major reasons for the Wildcats’ breakthrough season has been Kriisa’s play at point guard. The Estonia native was averaging 10.1 points and 4.9 assists entering the Pac-12 Tournament.

Greg McDermott is quietly doing some of his best work
If Ed Cooley wasn’t putting together a dream season at Providence, McDermott would be a lock for Big East Coach of the Year. One season after losing five starters from a team that lost to Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, Creighton is 21-10 and will play Providence tonight in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. This is all happening without Big East Freshman of the Year Ryan Nembhard (11.3 points, 4.4 assists, 3.1 rebounds), who was lost for the season a few weeks ago due to a wrist injury. McDermott deserves more attention and praise for the job that he’s done with this group.

A lack of player retention cost Tom Crean the Georgia job
This is now part of college basketball in 2022. With immediate eligibility via the the transfer portal, re-recruiting your own players is equally — if not more important — than recruiting new players. This is what ultimately cost Crean — who was fired on Thursday — his post in Athens. A year ago, the Bulldogs had a strong nucleus of Sahvir Wheeler (Georgia), K.D. Johnson (Auburn), Justin Kier (Arizona), Toumani Camara (Dayton), and Tye Fagan (Ole Miss). All five of those players transferred and three of them — Wheeler, Johnson, and Kier — are starters or significant contributors on three of the top teams in the sport. Player retention has never been more critical in college basketball. Crean’s tenure at Georgia is a prime example.

Leftovers