No. 1 Alabama falls behind early, still routs No. 8 Maryland

Brandon Miller bounced back from a poor game to post 19 points and seven rebounds, leading top-seeded Alabama past eighth-seeded Maryland 73-51 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala.Alabama advanced to the South regional next week in Louisville, Ky., and will face No. 5 seed San Diego State in the Sweet 16.Jahvon Quinerly scored 15 of his game-high 22 in the second half for the Crimson Tide (31-5), while Charles Bediako had 10 points and 10 rebounds.Alabama only outshot Maryland 39.7 percent to 35.2 percent, but the Crimson Tide owned a 44-32 advantage on the boards, and scored 16 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.Julian Reese scored 14 points for the Terrapins (22-13) despite heavy foul trouble. Jahmir Young scored 12.Miller went scoreless in Alabama’s first-round win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Along with playing through a lingering groin injury, Miller has been under heavy scrutiny for his involvement in the shooting death of Jamea Harris.Investigators testified that Miller delivered former teammate Darius Miles’ gun to the scene of the shooting; Miller has been flanked by armed security at the tournament after receiving “threats,” according to coach Nate Oats.Maryland made its first four field-goal attempts of the night before missing its next nine. The score was stuck at 12-10 Terrapins as neither team could score for a nearly five-minute span, until Bediako’s dunk in transition tied the game with 9:25 left in the half.Reese picked up two fouls 18 seconds apart and subbed out three minutes into the game. He subbed back in at 11:55 but was whistled for his third foul with 8:50 and had to sit the rest of the half.

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