JAHVON QUINERLY

Players and coaches in the NCAA Tournament may be breathing life into a new controversy: Inflategate.

Alabama is No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll of the season Houston is No. 2 and Big Ten champion Purdue was third.

Brandon Miller scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as fourth-ranked Alabama smothered No. 18 Texas A&M 82-63 for its second Southeastern Conference Tournament championship in three seasons.

Brandon Miller had 18 points and nine rebounds and No. 4 Alabama never trailed in posting a 72-49 victory over Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Friday.

Jahvon Quinerly scored 24 points, Brandon Miller made the clinching free throws with six seconds left and No. 2 Alabama rallied from a 17-point deficit before beating archrival Auburn 90-85 in overtime.

Purdue has picked up a series of high-profile victories to move into the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 for the second straight season.

Purdue has climbed to No. 1 in men's basketball AP Top 25 for the second straight season.

Purdue picked up wins over West Virginia, No. 15 Gonzaga and No. 12 Duke in consecutive weeks to win the Phil Knight Legacy tournament earlier in the season. Wins over Hofstra and Nebraska last week, combined with a loss by Houston, were enough to move the Boilermakers to No. 1 the AP Top 25 for the second straight season. Purdue moved up three spots in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll released on Monday, receiving 27 first-place votes from a 62-person media panel.

Houston and Texas remain firmly entrenched atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.

Mark Sears had 24 points, five rebounds and five assists, and No. 18 Alabama sent top-ranked North Carolina to a second straight loss with a 103-101 in a quadruple-overtime thriller in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational tournament.

Alabama basketball held voluntary shootarounds before NCAA Tournament loss to Notre Dame, and most did not show up.

Cormac Ryan scored a career-high 29 points and 11th-seeded Notre Dame recovered from a grueling First Four win and late-night flight to beat sixth-seeded Alabama 78-64 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Wendell Green Jr. scored a season-high 23 points off the bench as No. 1 Auburn cruised past rival Alabama with a 100-81 home win.

Jaden Shackelford scored 19 points and had nine rebounds as Alabama toppled No. 4 Baylor 87-78 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Luka Brajkovic scored 22 points and made a late 3-pointer and Michael Jones scored 21 points to help lift Davidson to a 79-78 victory over No. 10 Alabama.

Jaden Shackelford scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half, Jahvon Quinerly and JD Davison both hit key 3-pointers later, and No. 16 Alabama held off Gonzaga’s big second-half rally for a 91-82 win over the third-ranked Bulldogs.

Nelly Joseph and Walter Clayton Jr. made key free throws in the final seconds to lift Iona over No. 10 Alabama 72-68 in an opening-round game at the ESPN Events Invitational on Thursday night.

11 seed UCLA held on after Alabama's Alex Reese drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation to beat the second-seeded Crimson Tide 88-78 in a Sweet 16 showdown Sunday night. AdSingleton was fouled and made two free throws for UCLA, pushing the lead to 65-62 with 4 seconds to go. But that still gave the Crimson Tide enough time to find Reese, whose tying 3-pointer splashed just before the buzzer. Jahvon Quinerly scored 20 points and John Petty Jr. had 16 for the Crimson Tide (26-7), who have lost eight of their nine games in the Sweet 16. UCLA has beaten Michigan in three of their four NCAA Tournament games, including the 1965 national championship in Portland, Oregon.

This time, Pitino had his worst seed ever and second-seeded Alabama (25-6) was too much. Ad“I thought their kids came ready to play,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. Iona forced 14 turnovers, and Alabama had trouble getting an open look for most of the first 30 minutes. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough weapons to beat Alabama.”Iona also got dominated 42-26 in rebounds, a stat Pitino said surprised him. Alabama is in the tournament with its best seeding in history, on the strength of its first SEC Tournament title in 30 years.

Alabama players celebrate after beating LSU in the championship game of the NCAA college basketball Southeastern Conference Tournament Sunday, March 14, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. Alabama won 80-79. 6 Alabama won the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the first time since 1991, holding off a late flurry to edge LSU 80-79 Sunday. Alabama, the reigning national champions in football, won its seventh tournament title overall, second in the SEC only to Kentucky's 31. Alabama did it by adding two more SEC titles in basketball after Nick Saban's squad won both the SEC and national championships a couple months ago. About 20 minutes before tip-off, Alabama and LSU players had to be separated at midcourt.

6 Alabama rallied from a big deficit in the final 17 minutes to beat Tennessee 73-68 Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals. The Volunteers trailed 69-68 when Davonte Gaines missed two foul shots with 25 seconds left. Yves Pons’ 3-pointer got Tennessee within 69-68 with 41.4 seconds left, but Quinerly added two free throws and Ellis two more with 3.7 seconds left to seal a tense game. Alabama: The Crimson Tide have thrived from long distance all season and weren’t about to change, even without Primo. It didn’t start well but ended better as Ellis hit a big 3 to help the Tide finish 7 of 28.

6 Alabama blew out Mississippi State 85-48 on Friday in an SEC quarterfinal. Alabama followed a couple of small early runs with a 17-0 surge over nearly five minutes for an eventual 43-13 cushion just before halftime. The Tide also swarmed the Bulldogs defensively, scoring 24 points off 14 first-half turnovers and holding them to 30% shooting overall. “To get beat this badly was really, really a bitter pill,” he said. Alabama drained 3s in bunches to put this game away early and protected the ball.

– Jaden Shackleford scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, and No. 6 Alabama beat Mississippi State 64-59 on Saturday night to clinch its first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship since 2002. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs had plenty of good looks in the first half that just didn’t fall. The second half began much better and they were able to get close, but couldn’t get that one key basket or stop Alabama on the glass. Mississippi State visits Texas A&M on Wednesday night.

8 Alabama came from behind to beat Vanderbilt 82-78 Saturday and move a step closer to a Southeastern Conference championship. Maxwell Evans made a layup with four seconds left to pull to within 81-78 after rebounding a missed 3. After a quick Vandy foul, Quinerly missed one free throw and made another to clinch it. Quinerly scored 15 points for the Tide, which made just 10 of 39 3-point attempts (25.6%). Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 24 points and made 12 of 14 free throws for Vanderbilt.

Dru Smith and Missouri built a 22-point lead in the second half, then held off a frantic rally by the Crimson Tide for a 68-65 victory on Saturday. AdThe Crimson Tide had one last chance to tie it, but Jaden Shackelford’s contested 3-pointer at the buzzer missed. Shackelford scored 15 to lead Alabama (15-5, 10-1 SEC), whose first conference loss was almost an incredible comeback victory. Alabama is a volume 3-point shooting team, and when the Crimson Tide missed, Missouri started fast breaks with long rebounds. AdUP NEXTAlabama: The Crimson Tide travel to South Carolina on Tuesday.

The Crimson Tide (7-3, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) turned a one-point halftime lead into a double-digit advantage midway through the second behind Petty’s trio of 3s and two more long-range makes by Joshua Primo. Primo and Herbert Jones finished with 11 points, and Jahvon Quinerly scored 10. Tennessee (7-1, 1-1) struggled from the field the entire game, hitting 21 of 66 shots (32%). Alabama's 31-29 lead at the break happened with the Crimson Tide shooting 39% (12 of 31), while Tennessee struggled shooting 33% (11 of 33). UP NEXTAlabama: The Crimson Tide will be home Tuesday to face Florida, which beat LSU on Saturday.