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The Breakfast Buffet: Maryland has a “swing game” tonight at Nebraska, Florida, Chris Gerlufsen and San Francisco step into the spotlight

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

Maryland has a “swing game” tonight at Nebraska
Kevin Willard’s team has won five of its last six games and feels like a dark horse candidate to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. It can enhance its potential seeding on Selection Sunday if it finishes the regular season strong and that could very well be in the cards if the Terps can win tonight at Pinnacle Bank Arena. After tonight’s matchup with Nebraska, Maryland will play three straight home games in College Park and finish the Big Ten slate with four of its final six games at the XFinity Center. Remember: This team has only lost once this season at home and that came in November against Marquette. At 18-6 overall and 8-5 in Big Ten play, the Terps can truly can get the boulder rolling down the other side of the hill with a road win tonight against the Huskers, who will be without starting power forward Berke Buyuktuncel (7.2 points, 5.9 rebounds) due to an ankle injury.

Injuries have not inhibited Florida
The Gators haven’t been at full strength over the past few weeks, but that hasn’t stopped them from piling up wins. Florida didn’t have All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr. (17.5 points, 4.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds) on Feb. 4th against Vanderbilt and still won. It also didn’t have Alijah Martin (15.3 points, 4.9 rebounds) last Saturday at Auburn or last night at Mississippi State, but still won both of those games as well. The Gators also lost their starting power forward — Alex Condon (10.6 points, 7.8 rebounds) — early on Tuesday night in Starkville and still managed to earn a double digit win on the road. Todd Golden’s team is now 22-3 and taking aim at a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. 

Chris Gerlufsen and San Francisco step into the spotlight
It’s not easy to carve out space in a league like the WCC that’s been dominated by Mark Few and Randy Bennett, but the Dons are gradually finding their way. San Francisco will take a 20-6 record into tonight’s game against the Bulldogs in Spokane and currently leads Gonzaga by a half game for second place in the WCC standings. As of Wednesday, the Dons were ranked 60th in the NET. Gerlufsen led this program to a big early season win over Boise State and an even bigger win last week against Saint Mary’s. To get even more national attention, he’s got to do something with the two meetings he’s got against the Bulldogs in his final five regular season games. The door is widen open for San Francisco to become a national story before the WCC Tournament.

On The Side

  • Tennessee is just 5-4 this season when Chaz Lanier scores 15 points or fewer and 15-1 when he scores 16 points or more. This is the X-Factor to monitor in Knoxville.
  • Five of of the best basketball brands in the ACC — North Carolina, Virginia, Florida State, Syracuse, and Notre Dame — currently have an overall combined record of 63-59.
  • San Diego State is 6-2 this season in games decided by five points or fewer.
  • Colorado hasn’t won a game since Dec. 21st — that’s 54 days ago! The Buffaloes fell to 0-13 in Big 12 play after Tuesday night’s loss at Kansas.
  • The annual Bracket Preview Show for the 2025 NCAA Tournament is Saturday at 12:30 PM ET on CBS. Tune in as the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee releases the current Top 16 seeds for the bracket. 

Daily Specials

  • Maryland at Nebraska
  • Memphis at South Florida
  • San Francisco at Gonzaga

Leftovers