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The Breakfast Buffet: Missouri, Maryland’s starting five, Randy Bennett

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

Missouri has its best team since 2012
And it’s not close. 13 years ago, the Tigers were a 30-win team under Frank Haith that was a two seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is the best team that Columbia has seen since. Missouri improved to 20-6 after Wednesday night’s 110-98 win over Alabama and now owns wins over two teams that were projected number one seeds in last week’s bracket reveal on CBS; the Tigers also won at Florida earlier this season. Dennis Gates’ team is a legitimate threat to play deep into the NCAA Tournament. Missouri hasn’t advanced to the second weekend of March Madness since 2009.

Maryland’s starting five can match up with any in the sport
That doesn’t mean that the Terps are a lock go to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but it does mean that there’s nobody in the sport that Maryland can’t compete against. Maryland’s primary five players — Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice, Selton Miguel, Julian Reese, and Derik Queen — are all averaging in double figures entering tonight’s game against USC in College Park and have accounted for 83.5 percent of this team’s scoring this season. Kevin Willard could probably use a little more pop off the bench, but he’s got plenty of firepower with his core guys. Don’t be shocked if the Terps — who are currently 20-6 overall — become a popular dark horse pick to go far in March Madness.

Randy Bennett is doing one of his best coaching jobs
Should this guy be a National Coach of the Year candidate? He’s definitely an off-the-radar candidate. Saint Mary’s improved to 24-4 after Wednesday night’s win over Portland after losing both Joshua Jefferson (Iowa State) and Aidan Mahaney (UConn) to the transfer portal following last season. That’s utterly ridiculous. It’s a credit to Bennett, who has never left Moraga to pursue a power conference head coaching opportunity, but is still viewed as one of the great minds in the game. The Gaels are in prime position to win their third straight WCC regular season title.

On The Side

  • Michigan State currently has seven different players — Jaden Akins, Jase Richardson, Tre Holloman, Coen Carr, Jaxon Kohler, Frankie Fidler, and Jeremy Fears — averaging between 7.0 points and 13.1 points. This may very well be the most balanced team of Tom Izzo’s career.
  • Keep an eye on Florida’s Urban Klavzar. The 6-1 freshman has made at least one three-point shot in each of his last five games and is 9-15 from long distance during that span.
  • BYU is 2-0 against Kansas since joining the Big 12 prior to the 2023-24 season.
  • UCLA’s Dylan Andrews is again in a major slump offensively. The junior point guard is averaging just 5.4 points and 4.4 assists in his last five games while shooting 23.5 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three-point range during that span. The Bruins can’t come close to their ceiling until Andrews starts playing better basketball.
  • Think this is going to be a big weekend at Madison Square Garden? On Saturday night, Duke squares off with Illinois and then on Sunday, St. John’s will face UConn. Expect an NCAA Tournament type feel at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

Daily Specials

  • Northwestern at Ohio State
  • USC at Maryland

Leftovers