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Alabama has looked like the best team in college basketball for several stretches this college season. However, it has also been its own worst enemy and has failed to live up to its potential at times.
There is no room for error in the NCAA tournament, and the Crimson Tide fell victim to this by throwing up a clunker against San Diego State. The Aztecs successfully slowed down the pace of play and prevented Alabama from leaning on its run-and-gun style of play.
San Diego State ultimately secured a 71-64 victory to advance to the Elite Eight. Alabama shot just 23-71 (32.4%) from the field and 3-27 (11.1%) on three-point attempts. Fans were quick to pile on to the tournament's top seed, who has now been sent packing. A number of tweets circulated on social media with many referring to the Crimson Tide as fraud.
Brandon Miller struggles in the loss
The poor play of star freshman Brandon Miller was at the heart of Alabama's problems. He finished the game with nine points, 11 rebounds, and three assists despite struggling throughout. Miller went 3 for 19 from the field, 1 for 10 on 3-point attempts, and turned the ball over six times.
The game plan was thrown off from the start when Miller picked up two fouls in the first 5:11 of the gameplay. He was forced to take a seat on the bench to avoid further foul trouble which caused the offense to struggle. While Miller got himself under control and played the bulk of the matchup, the flow of the rotations was thrown off.
The foul issues were notable, but the bottom line is Alabama just did not make enough shots. It is nearly impossible to win with the type of poor shooting performance that they produced.
It is a credit to San Diego State for shutting down a high-powered offense of Alabama. After averaging the fifth-most points per game at 82.3 throughout the season, the offense looked to be stuck neutral for most of this matchup.
Despite this being the highest seeding coming into the tournament in program history, Alabama's streak of not getting past the Elite Eight since 2003-04 will stay alive. The Crimson Tide will return home unsatisfied with their performance, having failed to meet expectations.
In contrast, San Diego State will await the winner of the Elite Eight matchup between sixth-seeded Creighton and 15th-seeded Princeton. There are no longer any 1-seeds in the tournament, and the bracket appears to be open for grabs, so don't count out the Aztecs moving forward.
