San Diego State ousts top seed Alabama from March Madness

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — San Diego State coachBrian Dutcher has insisted throughout the NCAA Tournament that ifhis team plays to its strengths, it doesn’t matter what theopposition does.

The Aztecs certainly played the way they wanted to against thetop overall seed in March Madness.

Darrion Trammell and San Diego State used a dominant defensiveperformance to knock Alabama out of the tournament, bottling upAll-America freshman Brandon Miller in a 71-64 victory in the Sweet16.

Trammell scored 21 points while Miller, whose outstanding seasonwas marred by off-the-court complications, was held to nine pointson 3-of-19 shooting and had six turnovers.

The fifth-seeded Aztecs (30-6) will face sixth-seeded Creightonon Sunday in the South Region final. Each program is seeking itsfirst Final Four appearance.

Roughly 30 minutes after Alabama fell, the tournament’s finalremaining No. 1 seed, Houston, lost 89-75 to Miami, leaving MarchMadness without a single top seed among its final eight teams forthe first time since seeding began in 1979. The other top seeds,Purdue and Kansas, lost during the tournament’s openingweekend.

“It’s just parity,” Dutcher said. “That’s what it is. There’snot a lot of difference between the best team in the country andthe worst team in the country. You’re seeing that on thisstage.”

San Diego State trailed 48-39 midway through the second halfbefore going on a 12-0 run and controlling the game from there. TheAztecs finished with eight blocked shots — five by Nathan Mensah —and forced 14 turnovers.

Trammell scored the first eight points of SDSU’s big run. Hemade a 3-pointer, stole the ball from Miller and converted a layup,and then buried another 3.

“We’re going to go on our run,” Trammell said, “and I just tookthe opportunities they gave me. I took my shot, and I just made aplay on defense. From there, our team was in it. That’s when themomentum changed.”

So did the Crimson Tide’s season.

The March Madness run of Alabama (31-6) was clouded by itsresponse to the Jan. 15 fatal shooting of a 23-year-old woman inTuscaloosa, which led to capital murder charges against athen-Crimson Tide player, Darius Miles.

Miller was at the scene of the shooting and has not beencharged, but police have said in court documents that Miles textedMiller to bring him his gun. Authorities have said Miller is acooperating witness, and he did not miss any playing time. Millerreceived armed security protection during the tournament.

Mark Sears had 16 points and Jahvon Quinerly and Charles Bediakoscored 10 each for Alabama, which shot 32% overall and a miserable3 of 27 (11.1%) from 3-point range. The Crimson Tide fell short ofthe second Elite Eight berth in school history.

“We came to this game prepared as much as we could possibly,”Miller said. “I think our shot-making could have been better. Ourshot choices could have been better, but it’s just that San Diego’sa good group of guys. They’re vets, so they have a lot ofexperience. I feel like they came out and played hard.”

San Diego State’s players knew they had to impose their will onAlabama’s deep and gifted roster.

“Alabama’s a great team. They have a lot of talented players andindividuals,” Trammell said. “We knew it was going to be hard. Itwas a dogfight. Very physical.”

Sears’ layup got Alabama within 66-64 with 46 seconds remaining,but Matt Bradley made two free throws and Micah Parrish followed bymaking three of four attempts, including two with 17 secondsleft.

After the final buzzer sounded, Aztecs players and coachesrushed the court and hugged each other in a joyous celebration.

Jaedon LeDee finished with 12 points for the Aztecs.

San Diego State shot just 38% overall and was outrebounded52-48, but made clutch shots to rally when Alabama seemed incontrol behind a faster pace after halftime. A technical foul onDutcher also seemed to spark his seasoned team, which maintainedits physical play and thwarted every attempt by the Tide torally.

BLOCK PARTY

Mensah and Johnson had emphatic rejections with San Diego Stateahead 53-50.

Both blocks came on layup attempts by Quinerly. Mensah swattedthe first and Johnson rejected a subsequent attempt seconds later.Trammell followed with a step-back jumper for a five-pointcushion.

BIG PICTURE

San Diego State: The Aztecs never seemed fazed by Alabama orMiller. More impressive was their resilience when the game seemedto be slipping away.

Alabama: Other than the second-half run that put them aheadbriefly, the Crimson Tide seemed out of sorts in multiple ways. Theteam’s reliance on 3-pointers showed its desperation.