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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

Purdue exorcised its demons
Just like Virginia did in 2019, the Boilers are teaching all of us a great lesson in life: Tough situations can often be the incubator of an incredible turnaround. A little more than 365 days after Purdue suffered the biggest upset in the history of the NCAA Tournament when it lost to Fairleigh Dickinson, it’s now headed to the Final Four for the first time since 1980. The Boilers’ 72-66 win over Tennessee on Sunday in the Midwest Regional final featured ties, lead changes, and all sorts of momentum shifts, but Purdue never wavered. This team’s resiliency is one of the biggest reasons why it will play on college basketball’s most hallowed showcase on Saturday in Phoenix against NC State.

Never take Zach Edey for granted
The first player to win National Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons since Ralph Sampson did it at Virginia in the early 1980s, Edey cemented his legacy on Sunday as led Purdue to the Final Four for the first time in 44 years. Do not take him for granted because what Edey is doing from a production standpoint is historic. He had 40 points and 16 rebounds in Sunday’s Elite Eight win over Tennessee and is now averaging a whopping 30 points and 15 rebounds in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Take the pictures and put them away — we may never see a player like Edey again for a long, long time.

NC State has magic
The Wolfpack were nowhere near the NCAA Tournament at the start of Championship Week, but now they find themselves in the Final Four. Kevin Keatts’ squad finished the regular season at 17-14 and has since won nine consecutive games to reach college basketball’s biggest platform for the first time since 1983. You’ll hear many people draw parallels this week between NC State’s current run and what UConn did in 2011 with Kemba Walker, but they’re far from identical. 13 years ago, the Huskies won the Maui Invitational and were undefeated entering Big East play before ultimately winding up as a three seed on Selection Sunday. The Wolfpack meanwhile, had to win five games in five days at the ACC Tournament to earn an 11 seed in this year’s bracket. Remember: If Michael O’Connell’s three-point shot doesn’t bank in against Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament to force overtime, NC State’s season is over. This team and this run further reiterates why the NCAA Tournament is the greatest event that we have in sports.

On The Side

  • Kevin Keatts is now the fourth head coach to reach the Final Four that previously worked for Rick Pitino as an assistant. The other three? Tubby Smith, Billy Donovan, and Mick Cronin.
  • Jim Calhoun told College Hoops Today on Sunday that UConn’s connectivity reminds him of the Huskies team in 1999 that won the national title.
  • A salute to Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht who had 37 points in Sunday’s loss against Purdue and was the SEC Player of the Year. Bravo young man and well done.
  • Duke’s Tyrese Proctor really struggled this past weekend in Dallas. The 6-5 sophomore only scored a total of nine points while shooting 3-17 from the field and 1-9 from three-point range in a pair of games against Houston and NC State.
  • Alabama’s Latrell Wrightsell (head) will return to practice this week and barring any setbacks, is expected to play in Saturday’s Final Four game against UConn, Nate Oats told College Hoops Today on Sunday. The 6-3 Wrightsell averages nine points and has not played since the Round of 32.

Leftovers