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…
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