Alabama basketball was bounced from the 2023 NCAA Tournament because the top team in the nation was overcome by the ultimate trump card in March Madness: A feisty and tenacious defense.
Entering Friday night’s set of Sweet 16 matchups, the Alabama basketball program was one of just two top seeds left in the tournament and was a massive favorite to go all the way to the championship game due to their status as the top overall seed in the 68-team tourney.
Related: College basketball games today – Get watch times for tonight’s tournament action
The Crimson Tide — a squad with a pair of future NBA Draft picks in Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney — blew past Texas A&M – Corpus Cristi and Maryland in the first two rounds of the tournament. Crushing both by well over 20 points.
However, in Mountain West Conference champions San Diego State Aztecs, the Alabama basketball team’s stellar talent and No. 1 ranking were beaten by a hounding defense the likes of which they had never seen before.
San Diego State ousts Alabama basketball from tourney with suffocating defense
While San Diego State doesn’t have many players that will be drawing first-round interest in this year’s NBA Draft, they have made high-level defense their calling card all season long and it showed throughout their matchup with the top team in the nation.
The Mountain West champions were like wild dogs with a bone in how aggressively they contested Alabama at every turn. Be it at the rim or out at the three-point line, San Diego State was able to make it constantly difficult for the Alabama basketball team all night long. At halftime, the Crimson Tide had a shocking field goal percentage of just 28%.
When the Crimson Tide were able to get to the rim, the Aztecs guarded it as if their lives depended on it. As they racked up eight blocks on the night and center Nathan Mensah led that charge with five of them.
While Alabama was able to rally in the second half and retake the lead at one point, the San Diego State defense stiffened up once again and limited their opponents to just 16 points, to their 32, in the final 11 minutes of the game. Alabama basketball was 0-3 this season when they scored 65 or less. On Friday night, they could only muster 64 against the roughest and toughest defense they have faced.
San Diego State continues March Madness tradition of upsets led by great defense
The old adage of “defense wins championships” has never been more true than in the long history of the men’s NCAA Tournament. Especially when it comes to upsets. Be it Virginia Commonwealth over Kansas in 2011 or Fairleigh Dickinson against Purdue in this year’s tournament, the defense can be the ultimate trump card in the legendary tourney.
While many thought Alabama basketball had a clear and easy path to their first national title, they ran right into a traditional defensive buzzsaw in San Diego State. At the end of 40 minutes, the Crimson Tide shot 32% from the field and a stunning 11% from three.
Brandon Miller, the team’s best player, and who averaged over 19 points per game this season, was the top target of the San Diego State defense as they completely shut him down in what could be his last game for Alabama basketball. He was 3-19 from the field and a horrid 1-10 from three.
Like many special teams before them, the Aztecs used the great equalizer of a tremendous defense to send the best team in the country home way earlier than anyone expected and became the first team from their conference to ever reach the Elite Eight.