Alabama Basketball: Crimson Tide goes cold in Louisville

Despite widespread belief that Alabama Basketball was capable of winning a national championship, the Crimson Tide fell once again in the Sweet Sixteen. No history was made, at least not in terms of NCAA Tournament play.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Bama’s untimely season-ending loss is that this is one of the most wide-open tournaments in recent memory. A national title really was there for the taking.

Alabama Basketball got off to a rough start, scoring just 23 points in the first half. Bama has had slow starts in other games this season, so the first half struggles weren’t overly concerning.

The Tide woke up in the second half, getting its offense rolling and building some momentum. However, it wasn’t able to sustain this success. San Diego State dominated the last 10 minutes of the game to pull out a 71-64 victory.

The Crimson Tide shot just 32.4 percent for the game, and went 3-27 from the three-point line. Not one of Bama’s many effective perimeter shooters were ever able to establish a rhythm.

Despite leading the team with 16 points and adding 10 rebounds, junior guard Mark Sears went 0-5 from the three-point line. Jahvon Quinerly, who had arguably been Alabama’s best player in the month of March, finished with 10 points and three assists.

The senior guard had trouble finishing over San Diego State’s length in the paint. SDSU big Nathan Mensah blocked five shots and altered several more in the game.

In what was likely his last game in an Alabama Basketball jersey, Brandon Miller had a rough outing. The Aztecs defended well, and played the freshman phenom with physicality. In the end, Miller went 3-19 from the field and 1-10 from downtown.

He failed to reach double figures for just the third time this season (second time in the NCAA tournament), and committed six turnovers.

San Diego State guard Darrion Trammell proved to be the best player on the court. Trammell, who averages 9.8 points per game for the season, scored 21 in the Sweet Sixteen matchup while shooting over 50 percent from the field.

When Alabama took its largest lead of the game at 48-39 with under 12 minutes to play, Trammell went on a personal 8-0 run to close the gap. From there, the Aztecs took the lead and began to pull away from the Tide, with Trammell hitting two more big shots to stretch the lead.

Bama defended leading scorer Matt Bradley very well, but didn’t have an answer for Darrion Trammell.

Alabama Basketball was able to match SDSU’s grit for the most part, and outrebounded the Aztecs 52-48. Unfortunately, however, it couldn’t find its offensive touch, and did not make enough shots to win the game.

Alabama reverted to its early season shooting struggles at the worst time. Back in early November, much was made about the Tide’s “shooting woes.” Alabama went 3-22 from three in an exhibition win and 3-28 in its season opener.

In time, these criticisms proved to be baseless, as the Tide became one of the nation’s best three-point shooting teams. Periodically throughout the season, it had some poor shooting nights, such as home games against Mississippi State and Arkansas. These games were outliers, as Bama hit at least seven triples in 29 of its 37 games, and hit double-digit threes 15 times.

Against San Diego State, it chose the worst moment to shoot its lowest percentage since the first game of the season. As a result, a historic season came to an abrupt end in Louisville.