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The Breakfast Buffet: March Madness Edition

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

Coleman Hawkins is a major key for Illinois against UConn
The only way that the Illini are going to have a chance to beat the Huskies today in the Elite Eight is if they make enough shots to consistently go over the top of UConn’s defense. That’s directly related to the 6-10 Hawkins and his ability to drag Donovan Clingan away from the basket. Hawkins is 7-15 from three-point range in the NCAA Tournament and is shooting 37.9 percent from long distance for the entire season. This a key matchup to monitor today at TD Garden in Boston. Tip off is at 6:09 PM ET on TBS.

Clemson or Alabama will make history
Whoever wins today’s West Regional Final between these two teams will play in the Final Four for the first time ever. Just like the Tigers’ matchup on Thursday night against Arizona, this is a tremendous contrast in styles. The Crimson Tide want to play as fast as possible while Clemson prefers to be slow and methodical. But remember this: When these two teams met earlier this season in Tuscaloosa, Brad Brownell’s team scored 85 points in an eight-point victory while shooting over 50 percent from both the field and the three-point line. The Tigers should be very comfortable today when they take the court in Los Angeles. Tip off is at 8:49 PM ET on TBS.

Jeremy Roach is again coming up big for Duke
Just like he did when the Blue Devils went to the Final Four in 2022, Roach is playing his best when it matters most. The veteran point guard is averaging 14.3 points in three NCAA Tournament games while posting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 14:7 during that span. So much discussion centers around Duke’s recruiting and which of its players are going to head to the NBA, but players like Roach should be celebrated with more regularity. There’s absolutely no way that this team would be in position to go back to the Final Four for the second time in three seasons without him.

On The Side

  • Today’s East Regional final between UConn and Illinois at TD Garden in Boston is 84 miles from Gampel Pavilion, where the Huskies play their on-campus home games. It’s also 1,070 miles from State Farm Center in Champaign.
  • Purdue’s Braden Smith has 31 assists and just five turnovers in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
  • NC State’s Mohamed Diarra is averaging 10.6 points and 12.5 rebounds in eight postseason games. He’s only averaging 6.5 points and 7.9 rebounds during the entire season.
  • Three of the eight teams in the Elite Eight — Alabama, Clemson, and Tennessee — have never played in the Final Four.
  • The Big 12 had eight teams reach the NCAA Tournament, but not a single one of those teams reached the Elite Eight.

Leftovers