Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: 2018 Hall of Fame Belfast Classic preview and predictions

By Jason Burgess

BOISE, ID - MARCH 15: CJ Massinburg #5 of the Buffalo Bulls reacts in the second half against the Arizona Wildcats during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID - MARCH 15: CJ Massinburg #5 of the Buffalo Bulls reacts in the second half against the Arizona Wildcats during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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HONOLULU, HI – DECEMBER 23: Frankie Ferrari #2 of the San Francisco Dons slashes between Paris Lee #1 and MiKyle McIntosh #11 of the Illinois State Redbirds to take a shot during the second half of the Diamond Head Classic NCAA college basketball game at Stan Sheriff Center on December 23, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HI – DECEMBER 23: Frankie Ferrari #2 of the San Francisco Dons slashes between Paris Lee #1 and MiKyle McIntosh #11 of the Illinois State Redbirds to take a shot during the second half of the Diamond Head Classic NCAA college basketball game at Stan Sheriff Center on December 23, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

Goliath Bracket

Buffalo (5-0)

As I wrote earlier this summer, Buffalo is one of the better mid-major programs in the country.  The Bulls have solidified that position by getting off to a 5-0 start. Coach Nate Oats’ team already has a win over No. 13 West Virginia and good Southern Illinois team, both on the road. The deep Bulls have nine of their 11 players averaging more than 13 minutes per game.

This senior-laden team is led by guard C.J. Massinburg and his 20.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, which makes the 6-3 guard second on the team in rebounding and assists. Fellow seniors, Nick Perkins and Jeremy Harris have combined for 21.4 points and 14.6 rebounds, while sophomore guard Jayvon Graves has also gotten off to a good for a team that has averaged 86 points per game, with 12.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in five games.

Milwaukee (2-4)

The Milwaukee Panthers have won four Horizon League championships since 2003, and in their second year under coach Pat Baldwin they are looking to build on a 16-win campaign last season. Right now, Milwaukee sits at 2-4, after dropping their first four games of the season they beat LIU-Brooklyn in overtime 92-87 and Albany.

Offensively, the team is averaging just 71.6 points per game and are led by junior Darius Roy who is in his first year with the program after transferring from Mercer. The 6-3 guard from Oklahoma is averaging 18.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists, and he has led the team in scoring and assists in four of six games this season. Carson Warren-Newsome, a 6-5 guard from Illinois led the team in points (18), rebounds (6), and assists (7) in their loss to Cincinnati and junior 6-8 guard DeAndre Abram has averaged 9.5 points and has pulled down a team-leading 9.2 rebounds this year.

San Francisco (6-0)

The San Francisco Dons are one of the most successful programs in the history of college basketball thanks to Hall-of-Famers Bill Russell and K.C. Jones, but the team hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1998 mostly because they play in a conference with Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s.

Coach Kyle Smith is in his third season with the team, after leading Columbia to the CIT Championship in 2015-16. The last two seasons, the Dons have won at least 20 games and gone to the CBI both years. The Dons are on their way to another 20-win season, sitting at 6-0 heading into Belfast. San Francisco is running on all cylinders offensively, averaging 81 points per game.

Sophomore guard Charles Minlend is the team’s top scorer at 14 points, but the team also has four other players in double figures and nine players averaging at least 12 minutes per game. With only two of those players, Frankie Ferrari, the team’s leader in assists (6.2) and Matt McCarthy, the leading rebounder with (9.5), being seniors, the team has a bright future. Junior big man, Jimbo Lull, and swingman Jordan Ratinho have combined to average 21.5 points and eight rebounds.

Stephen F. Austin (4-1)

The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks have been one of the gold standards in the Southland conference in the last ten years with five NCAA Tournament appearances, including last season. Since 2009, the team has finished outside of the top three in the conference just twice. This version of Coach Kyle Keller’s team is a little different from those in the past. The team is 4-1 but only one of those has come against a Division I team and for a team that averaged over 80 points per game last season, they are averaging just 69 this season.

One thing that hasn’t changed for the Lumberjacks is their depth. SFA has 10 players averaging double-digit minutes and four players scoring at least 10 points per game, senior guard Shannon Bogues leads the team in scoring with 15.4 points and he is also second on the team in three-point shooting at 45.8%. Forwards Nathan Bain, Davonte Fitzgerald, and sophomore Karl Nicholas have combined for 30.6 points and 14.6 rebounds, while Bogues’ running mate Kevon Harris has added 10.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists.

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