San Diego State ousts Alabama as all four No. 1 seeds fall short of Elite 8 for 1st time

Darrion Trammell and San Diego State used a dominant defensive performance to knock top overall seed Alabama out of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, bottling up All-America freshman Brandon Miller in a 71-64 victory in the Sweet 16.

Trammell scored 21 points while Miller, whose outstanding season was marred by off-the-court complications, was held to nine points on three-of-19 shooting and had six turnovers.

The fifth-seeded Aztecs (30-6) will face sixth-seeded Creighton on Sunday in the South Region final. Each program is seeking its first Final Four appearance.

Roughly 30 minutes later, the tournament's final remaining No. 1 seed, Houston, lost 89-75 to Miami, leaving March Madness without a single top seed among its final eight teams for the first time since seeding began in 1979. The other top seeds, Purdue and Kansas, lost during the tournament's opening weekend.

San Diego State trailed 48-39 midway through the second half before going on a 12-0 run and controlling the game from there. The Aztecs finished with eight blocked shots — five by Nathan Mensah — and forced 14 turnovers.

The March Madness run of Alabama (31-6) was clouded by its response to the Jan. 15 fatal shooting of a 23-year-old woman in Tuscaloosa, which led to capital murder charges against a then-Crimson Tide player, Darius Miles.

Miller was at the scene of the shooting and has not been charged, but police have said in court documents that Miles texted Miller to bring him his gun. Authorities have said Miller is a cooperating witness, and he did not miss any playing time. Miller has received armed security protection during the tournament.

Mark Sears had 16 points while Jahvon Quinerly and Canada's Charles Bediako scored 10 each for Alabama, which shot 32 from three-point range. The Crimson Tide fell short of the second Elite Eight berth in school history.

Nijel Pack leads Miami past Houston

Nijel Pack and Miami hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defence in the country to beat Houston on Friday night.

Miami (28-7), only the fifth team this season to score at least 70 points against Houston (33-4), will play second-seeded Texas in the Midwest Region final for the chance to go to the Final Four.

The fifth-seeded Hurricanes reached a regional final for the second straight year just a few hours after Miami's ninth-seeded women's team hung on to beat Villanova and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time. Miami and UConn are the only schools with teams remaining in both tournaments.

The Cougars simply couldn't stop a multifaceted Miami offence led by Pack's three-point shooting. He had season highs of seven three-pointers on 10 attempts and 26 points.

Isaiah Wong's mid-range game helped get the 'Canes out to a fast start, and he finished with 20 points. Jordan Miller hurt the Cougars with his penetration and had 13 points, and Norchad Omier was his usual rugged self under the basket while recording his 16th double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

It resulted in a heartbreaking end for a Cougars team that was in the Sweet 16 for a fourth straight time, had won 15 of its last 16 games and had the season-long goal of playing in next week's Final Four in its home city.

Miami coach Jim Larranaga, much to his players' delight, busted out dance moves in the locker room befitting a 73-year-old man harkening to the disco era. Then Wooga Poplar and Joseph Bensley joined him up front for an impromptu line dance.

Larranaga will seek his first Final Four with Miami and second overall — he took George Mason there as an 11 seed in 2006.

Princeton falls to Creighton

Creighton used its size, three-point shooting and a swarming second-half defence to end the March Madness run of 15th-seeded Princeton with an 86-75 win.

The sixth-seeded Bluejays (24-12) advanced to their first regional final since they were part of an eight-team NCAA Tournament in 1941.

Ryan Kalkbenner, the two-time Big East defensive player of the year, scored 22 points to lead the Bluejays to their sixth win in seven games. Baylor Scheierman made five threes and finished with 21 points.

Canada's Ryan Nembhard added nine points, eight assists and four rebounds for the Bluejays.

The Tigers (23-9) were led by Ryan Langborg with 26 points and Ivy League player of the year Tosan Evbuomwan with 24 points, six rebounds and nine assists.

Princeton shook up brackets everywhere by beating No. 2 seed Arizona in the first round, then blew out seventh-seeded Missouri last weekend in Sacramento, California.

Playing in its first Sweet 16 since 1967, Princeton was hoping to become the first Ivy League champion to make the Elite Eight since Penn's Final Four run in 1979, the first Tigers squad to reach the Final Four since Bill Bradley led them there in 1965, and the second straight No. 15 seed to play in a regional final. Saint Peter's last year became the first 15 seed to achieve that feat.

Texas tops Xavier to reach Elite 8 for 1st time since '08

Tyrese Hunter scored 19 points while Christian Bishop and Canada's Marcus Carr added 18 apiece, and second-seeded Texas beat No. 3 seed Xavier 83-71 to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in 15 years.

Sir'Jabari Rice had 16 points and Timmy Allen added 11 for the Longhorns (29-8), who kept Souley Boum and the rest of Xavier's perimeter threats in check while making life miserable for Jack Nunge down low.

Adam Kunkel hit five three-pointers and led the Musketeers (27-10) with 21 points. Nunge scored 15 but needed 19 shots to get there, while Colby Jones also had 15 points. Boum didn't hit a field goal until early in the second half and finished with 12 points.