For the second time in three seasons, Alabama meets Maryland in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The top ranked Crimson Tide will take on the No. 8 Terrapins on Saturday at 8:40pm CT at the Legacy Arena. Alabama made the matchup with a 96-75 win over No. 16 Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, while Maryland clinched a 67-65 win over No. 9 West Virginia.
Two years ago, No. 2 Alabama defeated No. 10 Maryland in the Round of 32, 96-77. The Crimson Tide lost to No. 11, UCLA in the Sweet 16.
Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s game.
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WHO: No. 1 seed Alabama (30-5) vs. No. 8 seed Maryland (22-12)
If: 8:40 p.m. CT, Saturday, March 18
Where: Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama
Regard: TBS (Play-by-Play: Jim Nantz; Analyst: Bill Raftery; Analyst: Grant Hill; Sideline: Tracy Wolfson)
Hear: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-by-Play: Chris Stewart; Analyst: Bryan Passink; Engineer Tom Stipe)
Alabama’s scheduled starters
Jahvon Quinerly: 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, senior
Stats: 8.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.7 apg, 39.3% FG, 34.2% 3pt
Markus Sears: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, junior
Stats: 12.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.6 apg, 41.1% FG, 35.8% 3pt
Brandon Miller: 6-foot-9, 200 pounds, freshman
Stats: 19.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.1 apg, 44.6% FG, 39.6% 3pt
Noah Clowney: 6-foot-10, 210 pounds, freshman
Stats: 10.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 0.9 apg, 50.0% FG, 29.8% 3pt
Charles Bediako: 7 feet, 225 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 6.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.7 apg, 65.1% FG
Maryland projected starting lineup
Jahmir Young: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, senior
Stats: 15.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, 41.6% FG, 31.3% 3pt
Don Carey: 6ft 5, 187 pounds, senior
Stats: 7.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.1 apg, 37.9% FG, 33.9% 3pt
Hakim Hart: 6ft 8, 205lbs, senior
Stats: 11.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.6 apg, 48.4% FG, 33.9% 3pt
Donta Scott: 6ft 8, 230lbs, senior
Stats: 11.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, 39.8% FG, 31.0% 3pt
Julian Reese: 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 11.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.0 apg, 47.0% FG, 63.3%
Brandon Miller is ‘taking it easy’ with a groin injury.
A day after going scoreless for the first time in his career, Brandon Miller turned to the groin injury that had plagued him since last weekend’s SEC tournament in Nashville. The five-star forward failed to score in Alabama’s opener win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday and recorded five rebounds while shooting 5-0 from the floor in a season-low 19 minutes.
On Friday, Miller said he plans to play Maryland, saying as long as he’s able to warm up and loosen up his muscles he’s fine.
“It’s good,” Miller said. “Just take it slow, day by day, step by step, really just come back to 100 percent.”
Alabama head coach Nate Oats said Miller will not practice during the live portion of practice Friday. However, he is confident his top scorer will be ready on Saturday.
‘He’s getting treatment this morning,’ said Oats. “He got it last night. He’ll get a lot more this afternoon. We keep him away from everything live in practice today, not that we’re going to do a whole lot of live stuff with the game yesterday and tomorrow. He’ll be filming and doing some non-live stuff.
“I think he’ll be alright. He seemed to be moving well. It obviously bothered him. He didn’t shoot it very well, but he seemed to move decently. So he just needs to regain his confidence that he can play with it.”
Miller leads Alabama in averaging 19.1 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting 44.6% from the floor and a team-high 39.9% of 3. He was recognized by the SEC as Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, and was named conference tournament MVP after averaging 20.3 points, 11 rebounds and 4.3 assists in the Crimson Tide’s three wins in Nashville over the weekend.
game notes
— Nate Oats has a 9-3 (.750) record in his 12 postseason games atop the Crimson Tide. Oats has a 3-2 record in NCAA tournament games as head coach in Alabama and a 4-5 (.444) record in his five previous tournament appearances as head coach
– Alabama reached 30 wins for the first time in program history. The previous high of the Crimson Tide was 27 in 2001-02.
– Alabama’s freshmen have averaged 2,144 of UA’s 2,794 points (76.7%) this season
– Kevin Willard is the first coach in Maryland history to lead his roster to the NCAA tournament in his first season at the helm.
– Bidding for the NCAA tournament marks Maryland’s sixth appearance in the past seven applicable years. It would be the seventh appearance in eight years had the 2020 tournament not been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
