all over America in the NCAA men's tournament's first three days, but in Birmingham, No. 1 seed Alabama took care of its business in efficient, zero-doubt fashion. The Tide started slow but smothered the Terps with defensive efficiency, a reminder of the multifaceted threat this team poses to all remaining opponents in the tournament.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats predicted the first-half tempo on Friday afternoon. “They'd like it to be slower. We'd like it to be faster,” he said in his pregame news conference. “They're going to press in a way that slows the game down, and we're going to try to attack the press in a way that speeds the game up.”
Alabama began the second half looking a bit like that ‘93-’94 Kentucky team, which lost in the round of 32, struggling to pull away from a clearly outmatched Maryland. But the Tide inevitably took advantage of Maryland’s stone-cold shooting, and by the time the half hit the 10-minute mark Alabama had a 15-point lead and the game was pretty much in hand.