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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

Arizona/Purdue has the makings of an epic Elite Eight game
The team that was the number one team in college basketball to start the season will square off with the team that’s unequivocally playing the best basketball out of any remaining team in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilers’ season won’t be considered a success unless they win today against the Wildcats, who have won their last three games by an average of 22.3 points. A really good team is going to have its season end today in San Jose. Tip off for tonight’s game is at 8:49 PM ET on TBS.

Caleb Foster had a performance for the ages against St. John’s
Less than three weeks after having foot surgery, Duke’s veteran point guard had one of the more inspirational performances we’ve seen in a long time in the NCAA Tournament. The 6-4 Foster gutted out an 11-point, three-rebound performance in 19 minutes off the bench in Friday night’s 80-75 win over St. John’s in the Sweet 16. There’s absolutely no way that Duke would be in the Elite Eight for the second straight season without him.

Alex Karaban was vintage Alex Karaban against Michigan State
We’ve seen this movie before. With Friday night’s game between UConn and the Spartans hanging in the balance, the 6-8 senior did exactly what he’s done during the past four seasons — play his best when it matters most. Karaban’s clutch three-point shot extended a one-point lead to four late in the game and he also hit two key free throws down the stretch to cement a 67-63 victory. The Huskies are a whopping 16-1 in the NCAA Tournament with Karaban — who had 17 points and seven rebounds against Michigan State — as a member of UConn’s program.

On The Side

  • Michigan’s bench is averaging 27.0 points in its first three NCAA Tournament games.
  • Tennessee is 11-3 in the last four NCAA Tournaments under Rick Barnes.
  • Illinois’ David Mirkovic is averaging 16.7 points and 10.7 rebounds in three NCAA Tournament games. This is the guy that could be the difference for the Illini today against Iowa in the Elite Eight.
  • The biggest thing I take away from the fact that St. John’s had to play Kansas and Duke back-to-back before the Final Four? Those early season non-conference games that the Red Storm lost against Alabama and Iowa State really hurt this team’s NCAA Tournament seed and a potential cleaner path to the Final Four.
  • I’ve heard a lot of people comment this week that North Carolina wasn’t operating in its normal fashion under Hubert Davis. Remember: The Tar Heels’ overall combined record in their final two years under Roy Williams was 32-30.

Leftovers