San Diego State ousts top overall seed Alabama

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Darrion Trammell and San Diego State used a dominant defensive performance to knock top overall seed Alabama out of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, bottling up All-America freshman Brandon Miller in a 71-64 victory in the Sweet 16.

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

The fifth-seeded Aztecs (30-6) will play Creighton in the South Region final on Sunday. They seek their first Final Four in program history.

With fellow No. 1 seeds Purdue and Kansas losing during the tournament’s first weekend, and Houston falling to Miami on Friday night, the NCAA Tournament is without a single No. 1 seed among its final eight teams for the first time since seeding began in 1979.

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

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

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

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

“Alabama’s a great team. They have a lot of talented players and individuals,” Trammell said. “We knew it was going to be hard. It was 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 by making three of four attempts, including two with 17 seconds left.

Jaedon LeDee finished with 12 points for the Aztecs.

CREIGHTON 86, PRINCETON 75: Sixth-seeded Creighton (24-12) used its size, 3-point shooting and a swarming second-half defense to end the Cinderella run of No. 15 Princeton (23-9) , and advance to its first regional final since the school was part of an eight-team NCAA Tournament in 1941. The Bluejays have never advanced to the Final Four.

Ryan Kalkbenner, the two-time Big East defensive player of the year, scored 22 points to lead Creighton to its sixth win in seven games. Baylor Scheierman made five 3s and finished with 21 points. Ryan Langborg led Princeton with 26 points.

MIAMI 89, HOUSTON 75: Nijel Pack and fifth-seeded Miami (28-7) hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defense in the country to beat No. 1 Houston in Kansas City, Missouri.

Miami became only the fifth team this season to score at least 70 points against Houston.

The Hurricanes reached a regional final for the second straight year. This is the first time in three years Houston didn’t make it to the Elite Eight.

The Cougars simply couldn’t stop a multifaceted Miami offense led by Pack’s 3-point shooting. He had season highs of seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts and 26 points. Norchad Omier recorded his 16th double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Jarace Walker led Houston with 16 points.

TEXAS 83, XAVIER 71: Tyrese Hunter scored 19 points and second-seeded Texas (29-8) rolled to a victory over No. 3 Xavier (27-10) to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in 15 years.

The highest seed left in the tourney will play Miami on Sunday night for a spot in the Final Four in Houston.

Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop scored 18 points each, Sir’Jabari Rice had 16 and Timmy Allen had 11 for the Longhorns, who played most of the way without Dylan Disu, their star big man who has a foot injury. Adam Kunkel had 21 points to lead the Musketeers.