No. 8 Maryland (22-12) vs. No. 1 Alabama (30-5)
When: Saturday, March 18 | 9:40 p.m. ET
Where: Legacy Arena (Birmingham, Ala.)
Television: TBS (Streaming on March Madness Live) - Watch Live
Broadcasters: Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (color), Grant Hill (color), Tracy Wolfson (sideline)
Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network | Listen Online
Line: ALA -8.5
Over/Under: 143.5
Series history: Maryland leads the all-time series 4-2, with the Crimson Tide winning the most recent meeting 96-77 on March 22, 2021 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS:
ALABAMA
Jahvon Quinerly (6-foot-1, Sr., G) | 8.3 PPG | 1.9 RPG | 3.7 APG
Mark Sears (6-foot-1, Jr., G) | 12.6 PPG | 3.3 RPG | 2.6 APG
Brandon Miller (6-foot-9, Fr., F) | 19.1 PPG | 8.2 RPG | 2.1 APG
Noah Clowney (6-foot-10, Fr., F)| 10.1 PPG | 7.9 RPG | 0.9 APG
Charles Bediako (7-foot, So., C) | 6.2 PPG | 5.9 RPG | 0.7 APG
MARYLAND
Jahmir Young (6-foot-1, Sr., PG) | 15.9 | 4.7 RPG | 3.1 APG
Don Carey (6-foot-5, Sr., SG) | 7.4 PPG | 1.9 RPG | 1.1 APG
Hakim Hart (6-foot-8, Sr., G/F) | 11.6 PPG | 4.2 RPG | 2.6 APG
Donta Scott (6-foot-8, Sr., F) | 11.5 PPG | 6.0 RPG | 1.6 APG
Julian Reese (6-foot-9, Soph., F/C) | 11.4 PPG | 7.3 RPG | 1.0 APG
Survive and advance. That is what it is all about in March and what the Terps did in the opening round, hanging on late to defeat West Virginia, 67-65.
The Terps' reward for beating the Mountaineers? A date with the No. 1 seed Alabama Crimson Tide in Birmingham.
In a game where the Terps enter as 8.5-point underdogs, perhaps the biggest storyline coming in is the health of Crimson Tide All-American and leading scorer Brandon Miller, who played just 19 minutes and went scoreless in Alabama's opening-round victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi after suffering a groin injury.
According to Alabama head coach Nate Oats, Miller was held out of live practice on Friday as he worked with team trainers in order to try to get back to full strength for Saturday night's game.
Even if Miller is not at full strength versus the Terps, Oats is confident in his ability, as well as the ability of the players behind him.
"He's obviously been our most talented, best player all year," said Oats of Miller. "If he's not able to go at a hundred percent, he's probably still a pretty good player at 75, 80 percent. Hopefully we can get him playing better than he did [Thursday].
"You know, he told me in the second half, if you don't need to put me back in, don't put me back in, it's hurting. So I didn't. But I think he's smart enough to know if he can go or not and help us. If he can't, the good thing about our team is we've got a lot of depth. Nimari Burnett played great yesterday. He's not 6'9", but he's got a 6'9" wingspan. He's been great on defense. He did an unbelievable job, as we talked about, in Houston. He did a great job on Sasser when we won at Houston."
For Maryland, seniors Hakim Hart and Donta Scott will be looking to avenge their last NCAA Tournament loss, which came at the hands of Alabama in the second round of the 2021 tournament.
Both Hart and Scott started for the Terps versus the Crimson Tide in 2021, combining to score 18 points in the loss. Alabama senior guard Jahvon Quinerly also played in that game, scoring 14 points off the bench for the Tide and had a message for his teammates.
"I'm pretty sure those guys are going to play with a chip on their shoulder [Saturday]," said Quinerly. "Those are two really good players. That's what I've been telling the team, like these guys, they're going to be ready to play. So we've got to bring the energy."
While all NCAA Tournament games are technically neutral site, Alabama is likely to have a huge contingent of fans on hand with the game being played in-state in Birmingham.
The Terps struggled this season in true road games, going just 2-9.
But with the Crimson Tide's hated in-state rival Auburn also advancing to play in Birmingham on Saturday, the Terps are hoping their fans will take a rooting interest in Maryland.
"I've been hearing that Auburn fans are going to be in the building kind of rooting for us, but if they're rooting for us, we appreciate that," said Maryland starting guard Don Carey. "If not, we look at it like a road game. It's just about the guys that's on the bench, managers, the whole staff.
"As long as we come together, I think that's enough alone, but we'll appreciate Auburn if they root for us as well."
Added senior forward Patrick Emilien, "Yeah, if anybody wants to come support Maryland basketball, we're here for it. We could use all the help we can get."
