SEC Basketball

Alabama is heading to its first Final Four in program history after handling Clemson 89-82 Saturday night.

The fourth-seeded Crimson Tide went back and forth with the No. 6 Tigers for much of the game, going into a shootout late in the second half that kept things close. A late push from Alabama fueled by star guard Mark Sears helped the Tide pull away in the final minutes to advance.

Sears finished with 23 points, and freshman forward Jarin Stevenson added 19 off the bench.

After Alabama's Final Four push, fans praised the Crimson Tide on the team's outstanding March Madness run.

Alabama moves on to face No. 1 UConn, which has looked poised to become a back-to-back champion. The Crimson Tide have already defeated a No. 1 seed in North Carolina in the Sweet 16, but the Huskies were the top overall seed for a reason. If Alabama's electric offense can keep up with UConn, it could be on its way to a national championship appearance.

Dalton Knecht's game-high 24 points helped lead the No. 2 seed Tennessee Volunteers to a 82-75 win over the No. 3 seed Creighton Bluejays in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on Friday evening.

Tennessee used an 18-0 second half run to turn a 39-37 deficit into a 55-39 lead in a 4:48 span. Knecht posted six points and four assists during that run.

Creighton stormed back, though, and cut the lead to three points on a pair of occasions (62-59 with 6:02 left, and 65-62 with 4:44 remaining).

However, Knecht responded with a made three-pointer each time, putting Tennessee back up six.

Creighton certainly had its chances down the stretch but came up empty on three straight positions with the score 68-64 in the Vols' favor.

However, the first of those possessions ended when a Steven Ashworth pass appeared to go off Knecht's fingertips before going out-of-bounds. The refs called it out on Creighton, though, and the Vols got the ball back.

Tennessee eventually broke through with a Tobe Awaka three-point play before icing the game with free throws down the stretch.

Zakai Zeigler complemented Knecht's night with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds, while Josiah-Jordan James added 15 points. Baylor Scheierman's 25 points paced the Bluejays.

But Knecht's hot shooting late and his efforts during the 18-0 run ultimately made the difference here. Fans and analysts were impressed with his work and that of his teammates as well.

Tennessee will now play No. 1 seed Purdue in the Elite Eight on Sunday, with the winner headed to the Final Four to face either No. 4 seed Duke or No. 11 seed North Carolina State.

This marks the Vols' second-ever Elite Eight appearance, with the last one occurring in 2010. A win against Purdue will mark its first-ever Final Four berth.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl came to the defense of Chad Baker-Mazara after the junior guard was ejected from the Tigers' 78-76 loss to Yale in the first round of the 2024 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Having already questioned the ruling in the immediate aftermath of the loss, Pearl turned his focus Thursday to Auburn fans who have been haranguing Baker-Mazara.

"I'm just going to tell the Auburn family, while I know you're disappointed, if somebody was messing with your son, you'd stand up for your son a little bit, wouldn't you?" he said, per the Associated Press' John Zenor. "Stop messing with my son. Stop it. He apologized. He made a mistake. And I'm calling you out. I'm not having it. For those on social media that want to continue, unfollow those people. Stop it."

Baker-Mazara was only on the floor for three minutes of Auburn's opening contest. At the 16:59 mark of the first half, the referees handed him a flagrant-2 foul for elbowing Yale guard August Mahoney.

It's not as though his ejection was the sole reason for the fourth-seeded Tigers going down. They turned the ball over 14 times and allowed the Bulldogs to get to the free-throw line 31 times.

Auburn led with a little over two minutes left before John Poulakidas' deep three-pointer put Yale on top.

Of course, fans were bound to wonder what might've been with Baker-Mazara on the court. He averaged 10.0 points and shot 41.8 percent from the floor this season, and he had combined for 24 points across Auburn's last two wins of the SEC tournament.

Associate head coach Steven Pearl thought Baker-Mazara's involvement would've reversed the outcome.

"We beat Yale by 20 points if Chad is in that game," Pearl said on The Next Round (via Ainslie Lee of AL.com). "I don't want to dance around that. I'm not trying to, obviously, disrespect Yale, but we're way better than they are and we should've beat them without him."

Perhaps such a disappointing finish will spur Baker-Mazara and the Tigers on to better things in 2024-25.

Kentucky men's basketball head coach John Calipari will return to the team despite the Wildcats' loss to No. 14 seed Oakland in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

This news comes after Calipari met with athletic director Mitch Barnhart on Tuesday.

Kentucky Sports Radio's Matt Jones first reported that Calipari would return.

In 2009, the Wildcats hired Calipari, who had just coached Memphis for eight seasons. Prior to that stint, Calipari led UMass for nine seasons before a three-year tenure as the New Jersey Nets' head coach.

Over a decade-plus at Kentucky, Calipari routinely added 5-star prospects (and future NBA icons) to his team, usually for one year at a time.

Although UK had plenty of turnover in this one-and-done environment, Calipari's teams largely enjoyed great success over his first decade, making Final Fours 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015, earning national championship berths in 2012 and 2014 and winning it all in 2014.

Stars during the first half of his UK tenure included John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, Julius Randle, Devin Booker and Jamal Murray.

Calipari signed a 10-year deal worth $86 million in 2019 after leading UK to the Elite Eight. His buyout is worth $34,968,749.

The Wildcats haven't made the Final Four since 2015. They also have won just one NCAA tournament game over the past five seasons.

UK went 9-16 overall in 2020-21 and missed all postseason tournaments entirely.

The next season was far better for UK, with the team earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. However, the Wildcats fell in the first round to No. 15 seed Saint Peter's, which rolled off a run to the Elite Eight.

The 2022-23 team had its fair share of troubles and lost 11 games before the tournament but still earned a No. 6 seed. UK didn't make it out of the first weekend, though, losing to No. 3 seed Kansas State.

The 2023-24 squad featured two potential top-three draft picks in Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard, and they eventually earned a No. 3 seed in March Madness. But once again, UK faltered early, falling to Oakland in the first round.

The 65-year-old Calipari enjoyed a largely successful and star-studded tenure at Kentucky, although he's clearly hit a rough patch this decade.

However, the Wildcats are bringing Calipari back in hopes that he can recapture his past magic.

It seems like Kentucky men's basketball head coach John Calipari isn't going anywhere despite a shocking loss to Oakland in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported Monday that Calipari will meet with athletic director Mitch Barnhart on Tuesday to "focus on significant program improvements, not necessarily separation."

Norlander also gave his opinion on the situation given the context of Calipari's contract:

While Calipari, like any head basketball coach, meeting with the athletic director to discuss the nature of the program after the season is business as usual and not necessarily notable, the context of his job status being firmly under the spotlight following another shocking early exit from the Big Dance adds another layer to the situation.

Kentucky is one of the gold standards of college basketball but hasn't been to the Sweet 16 since 2019. Its last Final Four came back in 2015.

The loss to 14th-seeded Oakland wasn't even the most surprising recent tournament result, as Calipari's team was a No. 2 seed and lost to 15th-seeded Saint Peter's in the first round of the 2022 Big Dance.

"I'm the adult in the room," Calipari said during a Monday radio appearance when discussing the criticism surrounding the program (h/t Kyle Tucker of The Athletic). "I'm the leader of all this. My job is to lead them."

He also addressed his upcoming meeting with Barnhart:

It should be noted that Calipari does have some goodwill built up from his 15 seasons as the head coach of the Wildcats. He led Kentucky to the national championship in 2012 and has four Final Fours, six SEC regular-season titles and six SEC tournament championships during his time with the program.

He is also an excellent recruiter and has the No. 2 overall class for the 2024 cycle arriving next season, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

But all that recruiting and compilation of talent hasn't led to tournament success in recent years. And that is inevitably going to dial up the pressure at a program like Kentucky, which enters every season with championship aspirations.

Perhaps Tuesday's meeting will be the next step toward returning to the excellence that is expected in 2024-25 and beyond.

Vanderbilt has hired James Madison's Mark Byington as the team's new head coach in the wake of Jerry Stackhouse's firing, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel.

Byington led James Madison to a record of 32-4, resulting in an appearance in the NCAA tournament. His team pulled off an upset victory over Wisconsin in the first round before falling to Duke in the second round on Sunday.

Stackhouse was previously fired after Vanderbilt was eliminated in the SEC tournament.

After steadily improving in each season from 2020 through 2023, the team took a large step backwards during the 2023-24 season. Coming off a commendable 22-15 campaign, Stackhouse led Vanderbilt to a paltry 9-23 record which included a 4-14 mark in the SEC.

As for Byington, he's coming off a season with the Dukes that was already considered to be extremely successful well before their NCAA tournament victory. The team set a school record by recording 32 wins compared to just four losses in the regular season, emerging victorious in the Sun Belt Conference tournament to secure a March Madness berth.

James Madison's defeat of Wisconsin represented the program's first NCAA tournament win since 1983.

After four seasons with the school, Byington will leave with a record of 82-36. He also has seven years of head coaching experience with Georgia Southern prior to leading the Dukes. Byington finished with a winning record in each of his final four seasons at his previous stop, including 20-win campaigns from 2017-18 through 2019-20.

Now, he'll attempt to help Vanderbilt get back on track after the team appeared to be on the verge of a breakout year after a promising 2022-23 season. The Commodores have not made the NCAA tournament since 2017.

Houston is heading to the Sweet 16 for the fifth consecutive NCAA tournament.

The No. 1 Cougars held off No. 9 Texas A&M 100-95 Sunday night in an overtime thriller to advance to the second weekend, where they will take on No. 4 Duke. The Blue Devils beat No. 12 James Madison in the Round of 32.

It was a win-by-committee game for Houston, which had four players in double figures on the night. Sophomore guard Emmanuel Sharp led the way with 30 points, L.J. Cryer put up 20, Jamal Shead had 21 and J'Wan Roberts scored 13.

Houston went into the break with a 36-28 lead and Texas A&M managed to keep things close for most of the second half. The Cougars started to pull away with minutes left, but a late surge from the Aggies made things more interesting in the final minute. Texas A&M made a miraculous comeback and sent the game into overtime with a buzzer-beating three from Andersson Garcia.

With four of its starters fouled out by the end of overtime, Houston still managed to escape and avoid the upset.

After the overtime game, fans were hyped to see another exciting March Madness matchup.

Now Houston will get to catch its breath for a moment but will then prepare for what will be a tough matchup against the Blue Devils.

Duke handled James Madison easily on Sunday, but Houston will be a tough challenge. The Cougars have been one of the most dominant teams in college basketball this year and they're not looking to let up against the five-time national champions.

The Blue Devils are looking to reach the Final Four for the first time since Mike Krzyzewski retired, and they'll have to get through a top seed to do it. The Cougars are looking for their first national championship in program history, and Duke will be a big test.

If the matchup between Duke and Houston is half as exciting as Sunday's game, it should be a good one.

For the first time in three decades, Alabama is Sweet 16 bound in consecutive seasons.

It was a tight battle with 12-seed Grand Canyon, but the fourth-seeded Crimson Tide were able to lock it down at the end and emerge with a 72-61 win.

It wasn't easy, as the Antelopes took a lead in the later stages of the second half and remained close until the final minutes. A 17-3 run from the Crimson Tide at the end really put the game away.

Mark Sears led the Crimson Tide with 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Rylan Griffen had 13 points and the Alabama bench combined for 20 points.

Fans took to social media to express relief at the result and wish Alabama the best going forward.

Others immediately turned their attention towards Alabama's next opponent, No. 1 seed North Carolina.

The Crimson Tide and Tar Heels have faced each other twice in program history. Each has taken a victory, with the most recent being a 103-101 victory for Alabama in four overtimes during the 2022-23 season.

It took until the very end, but the Tennessee Volunteers survived a major test.

The second-seeded Vols outlasted the seventh-seeded Texas Longhorns 62-58 in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.

The Volunteers held off a late push from the Longhorns and avoided the upset at the hands of a future conference rival. Jonas Aidoo had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists for Tennessee, and Tobe Awaka had 10 points and five rebounds.

However, the story for Tennessee, as it has for much of the season, was the play of first-team All-American Dalton Knecht. He had 18 points, nine rebounds and an assist, but was not super efficient as he shot 5-of-18 and went 1-of-8 from three-point range.

However, he really showed up at the free-throw line, going 7-of-8. This included two clutch makes at the end of the game that put Tennessee up by four, essentially putting the game away.

Fans took to social media to express appreciation for his clutch play despite some struggles early.

The win advances Tennessee to the Sweet 16 round. This is the farthest the program has gone since 2018-19, when it reached the same round. The Volunteers have not reached the Elite Eight since 2009-10.

Tennessee will await the winner of Creighton and Oregon.

A resolution on the short-term future of Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari could come relatively quickly, according to Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio.

Jones provided an update Saturday—two days after the third-seeded Wildcats were upset by Oakland in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament—referencing Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart:

The pressure on Calipari has steadily been building.

Going 9-16 and missing the NCAA tournament altogether in 2020-21 was bad but could be chalked up as a bit of a fluke under exceptional circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fact that Kentucky has suffered two first-round exits in the last three years—the first coming as a No. 2 seed—represents a worrying trend.

Not to mention, the time since the Wildcats' last Final Four appearance (2015) continues to grow.

To some degree, Calipari is a victim of his own success. Kentucky was a national champion in his third year at the helm and a national runner-up two seasons later. He turned the program into an assembly line for players with NBA aspirations.

But Wildcats fans aren't wrong for expecting more relative both to where the team was early in the 2010s and the talent Calipari continues to attract.

Kentucky assembled the No. 1 class in 247Sports' composite team rankings for 2023. This was supposed to be the year Calipari silenced his increasing number of skeptics. Instead, the discourse is hitting a fever pitch.

The school would be facing a nearly $35 million buyout were Calipari to be fired without cause. Andy Staples of On3 explained why that may not be an impediment to making a coaching change

Looking at the bigger picture, things can undoubtedly be worse for Kentucky.

The Billy Gillispie era was brief but disastrous. Tubby Smith's first year set a high bar he was unable to match in any of his subsequent nine seasons. Older fans will recall the state of things before Rick Pitino took over in 1989.

Maybe the administration continues to believe in Calipari and isn't swayed by the recent March Madness results. That's probably not an opinion shared by many within the fanbase, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to conclude that Calipari's tenure has simply run its course.