| MBB/WBB đźŹ€ Alabama Defeats Maryland 73-51 in NCAA Tournament to Advance to Ninth Sweet 16 in Program History

Man, we're playing kinda meh on the offense. We're letting their defense dictate our offense and our guards aren't setting up shots with their penetrations. We need to adjust and start driving down the lane more.
 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 1 seed and top-ranked Alabama men's basketball team outscored No. 8 seed Maryland by 17 points in the second half to cruise to a 73-51 victory Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament second round. With the win, the Crimson Tide advances to its second Sweet 16 appearance in the last three years and ninth showing in program history.

Alabama will meet No. 5 seed San Diego State in the regional semifinal which will be played Friday in Louisville, Ky. (time and television will be announced at a later time).

Playing in front of a hometown crowd at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., the Crimson Tide (31-5) overcame a slow start to take a five-point halftime lead, 28-23. Alabama then used a hot start to the second half and went on to outscore Maryland by 17 points, 45-28, to result in the final score.

The Tide was led by Jahvon Quinerly's 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Brandon Miller collected 19 points and seven boards while Charles Bediako added 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win.

The Terrapins (22-13) were led by Julian Reese's 15 points, while Jahmir Young added 12 points in the loss.

HEAD COACH NATE OATS POSTGAME COMMENTS​

"It I'd like to thank the city of Birmingham and everybody for putting this on. It's been unbelievable to play in front of our hometown fans. The chance to go to the Sweet Sixteen. I thought that was great for our program, great for the state of Alabama, great for the city of Birmingham. So just thank whoever is responsible for bringing the tournament here and putting it on. It was good. Thought we had a pretty good crowd, pro-Alabama crowd tonight. The start of the game wasn't what we wanted. I think they hit their first four field goals. We hung in there. Our defense picked up from there. It was a great game. Looking forward to playing San Diego State up in Louisville. We'll be ready to go Friday."

TEAM STATS​

  • Alabama will make its ninth NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in program history and second in the last three years
  • Head coach Nate Oats improves to 10-3 (.769) in 13 postseason games while at the helm of the Alabama men's basketball program
  • Oats also improved to 4-2 (.667) in six NCAA Tournament appearances at Alabama, including a pair of Sweet 16 showings
  • The 22-point win over the Terrapins matched the Tide's second-largest NCAA Tournament win in program history
  • The Tide's margin of victory in its two games in Birmingham was 21.5 points per contest and including two of the five top margin of victories in the program's tournament history
  • Charles Bediako collected his fifth double-double of the season

FIRST HALF​

  • Maryland made its first four shots from the field to jump out to a 9-2 advantage
  • The Crimson Tide held the Terrapins to just two field goals over its next 20 shots from the floor, and outscored Maryland 24-10 over the stretch to take a 26-19 lead
  • Brandon Miller led Alabama with nine points, while Jahvon Quinerly finished with seven in the opening stanza
  • The Tide was limited to just one made three in the half (1-of-7)

SECOND HALF​

  • Maryland never got any closer than five points and trailed by as many as 23 over the final 20 minutes of play
  • With the score at 44-35 with 12:36 left to play, the Crimson Tide outscored the Terrapins 29-16 the rest of the way
  • Jahvon Quinerly hit 6-of-7 shots from the field and 3-of-4 from deep on his way to 15 points
  • Brandon Miller scored 10 while pulling down five boards
  • The Crimson Tide defense limited Maryland to 11 made field goals in the half, all of which came inside the three-point line

UP NEXT​

  • The Crimson Tide will face the No. 5 seed in the South Region, San Diego State on Friday, March 24
  • Game time and television will be announced at a later time
 

If they win it the D will be the reason. When shots are not falling they can still win and win with margin. They just effect every shot with their length. Now with that said they may run into a hot team that just can't miss and then the offense has to show up.

Another issue may them running into a team that the refs allow the opponent to play football (looking at you Viles)....
 
On ESPN last night, the pundits said the only problem Bama has had this season was against physical teams who beat them up. Who were they talking about other than the vile’s? Gonzaga? Oklahoma?
The experts are having a hard time dealing with the fact Alabama has a very talented and good basketball team capable of winning a National Championship. No Duke, No North Carolina, No Michigan St. They are not handling all of this very well.
 
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