NCAA Tournament roundup: No. 5 San Diego St. ousts No. 1 Alabama

No. 5 San Diego State 71, No. 1 Alabama 64

Underdog San Diego State kicked No. 1-overall seed Alabama out of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Elite Eight on Friday night in Louisville.

A 71-64 win sends the fifth-seeded Aztecs (30-6) into the South Region final on Sunday against sixth-seeded Creighton. They all but erased Alabama All-American Brandon Miller in the second half, limiting him to 1-of-10 shooting in the half. He finished the night with nine points and six turnovers.

San Diego State’s Darrion Trammell had a game-high 21 points, making nine of his 16 attempts from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. The Aztecs’ relentless, stranglehold defense and balanced offensive attack combined to quiet the Crimson Tide, who made 3-of-27 3-point attempts and just 14 of 28 layups, a testament to the Aztecs’ static-cling.

Alabama (31-6), now 1-9 all time in the Sweet 16, was led by Mark Sears’ 16 points and 10 rebounds. Miller (3-of-19), Sears (4-of-11), and Jahvon Quinerly (4-of-13) couldn’t catch fire and the Crimson Tide shot 32.4% for the game.

No. 6 Creighton 86, No. 15 Princeton 75

Ryan Kalkbrenner dropped 22 points, Baylor Scheierman added 21 points on 5-of-7 3-point shooting and the Bluejays shot 58.2% to take down the Tigers.

The Bluejays (24-12) will face fifth-seeded San Diego State in the Elite Eight on Sunday. The high-octane Bluejays made 32-of-55 shots, including Kalkbrenner’s 9-of-12 and Scheierman’s 8-of-11. Trey Alexander scored 19 points, Arthur Kaluma had 10 and Ryan Nembhard put up nine points and eight assists for Creighton.

Princeton (23-9) was vying to become the second No. 15 seed ever to make the Elite Eight, but the Tigers couldn’t match the feat of New Jersey-neighbor Saint Peter’s last year. Ryan Langborg led the Tigers with a career-high 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting, and Tosan Evbuomwan supplied 24 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

–Field Level Media contributed to this article