Alabama aims to avoid giant-killers in South
Alabama was expected to be in the Sweet 16 as the overall top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Few thought the teams standing between the Crimson Tide and a trip to the Final Four would be No. 5 seed San Diego State, sixth-seeded Creighton and 15th-seeded Princeton.
A win over Alabama (31-5) could elevate any of those schools to the status of March Madness legend. Coach Nate Oats understands the pressure his team faces when it faces San Diego State tonight as it seeks its first Elite Eight berth since 2004.
“We've taken enough losses against good teams and some that weren't as good to where they know what they have to do on any given night,” Oats said. “From here on out I think we're going to be playing really good teams.”
Today's other South Region semifinal in Louisville features Creighton (23-12) against Princeton (23-8), which has proven anything is possible with its wins over No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 7 seed Missouri.
The lower-seeded teams that advanced in the South hardly came out of nowhere.
San Diego State (29-6) has been ranked in the AP Top 25 most of the season and enters with 12 wins in 13 games, including the past six. The Mountain West champions Aztecs have held their own against Power Five schools, beating Stanford and Ohio State before falling to Arizona and Arkansas during a challenging November slate that helped prepare them for this stage.
They've averaged nearly 66 points per game during their current streak — which includes a 23-point, second-round rout of No. 13 seed Furman — while holding five of six opponents under 50 points. SDSU faces a tall task against an Alabama squad averaging 82.3 points per game.
“We're just playing good basketball, and our opponent has always been ourselves,” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said Thursday. “Our standards are to play up to whatever our capabilities are, regardless of the opponent. So if we play really good basketball, we'll have a chance to win the game.”
Of course, San Diego State will have to limit Alabama freshman Brandon Miller, who is shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc with 2.9 made 3-pointers per game, while averaging 19.1 points and 8.2 rebounds.
Princeton has also won six straight. Beating the Pac-12 Conference Wildcats 59-55 was impressive enough for the Tigers, who went on to dominate Missouri of the Southeastern Conference 78-63, the biggest margin of victory ever by a No. 15 seed.
The Ivy League champions are in their first Sweet 16 since 1967 and embracing the underdog label, even though they feel like they belong.
“Personally, I love it,” senior guard Ryan Langborg said. “It allows us to play with a confidence not only amongst ourselves, but amongst our fans and allows us to get the crowd involved. Which I think always helps with momentum.”
Princeton will meet a Creighton squad in its second Sweet 16 in three years. The Bluejays went 2-4 against Power Five schools during the regular season but regrouped in the NCAA Tournament to beat North Carolina State and No. 3 seed Baylor, the 2021 national champion.
Providence chooses English as new coach
Providence hired Kim English as its next basketball coach, quickly moving to fill the opening left after Ed Cooley left to take the job at Big East rival Georgetown.
English becomes the 16th coach in school history. Cooley resigned from Providence on Monday following 12 seasons. He complied a 242-153 record with the Friars that included seven appearances, but just three March Madness victories.
The 34-year-old English was 34-29 in two seasons at George Mason, leading the Patriots to a 2013 record this past season. It was the first time the school reached the 20-win milestone since 2016-17.
Cooley's 242 wins as Friars' coach were second only to Joe Mullaney's 290 victories that came over two different stints with the Friars.
This will be English's second head coaching job.
He played college basketball at Missouri and was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the second round in 2012. But his NBA tenure was short and he was waived in 2013. He had a brief stint with the Chicago Bulls in 2014 and also played two years professionally overseas.
English began his coaching career as an assistant under Frank Haith at Tulsa in 2015 and spent two seasons there before being hired by Tad Boyle in 2017 as an assistant at Colorado. Then in 2019, former Friars coach Rick Barnes brought English to Tennessee as an assistant coach, where he stayed until being hired by George Mason.