LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The top-seeded Alabama men's basketball team was upset in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 dropping a 71-64 decision to No. 5 seed San Diego State Friday night inside the KFC Yum! Center. With the loss, the Crimson Tide finishes its historic 2022-23 campaign with an overall 31-6 record which included a 16-2 mark in SEC play.

The game was close throughout and featured eight ties and nine lead changes with both teams owning nine-point second half leads. The Aztecs led for 20:11 of the contest while Alabama had the lead for 14:44.

The Crimson Tide had three players reach double figures to pace the offensive end. Mark Sears led the way with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, both Jahvon Quinerly and Charles Bediako scored 10 apiece. Brandon Miller, who finished with nine points and 10 rebounds, finished just 3-of-19 shooting from the field and 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.

San Diego State (30-6) had two players in double figures, led by Darri Trammell with 21 and Jaedon Ledee with 12 to lead the Aztecs to an Elite Eight appearance.

HEAD COACH NATE OATS POSTGAME COMMENTS

"I'll share what I just got done telling the players in the locker room. I mean, we had an unbelievable year. Everybody is really disappointed in the loss. It ended too soon. San Diego State is a very good team. When you get to the Sweet 16, you know, all the teams are good at this point. You know, they're tough, physical, veteran group. It's a huge accomplishment to get to the Sweet 16."

TEAM STATS

• Friday's Sweet 16 matchup with San Diego State is the first time that Alabama has played the Aztecs in program history
• Alabama outrebounded SDSU 52-48 for the entirety of the game, including a 30-23 edge in the second half
• Sears picked up his second double-double of the season with 10 boards to go along with his 16 points
• The Crimson Tide outscored the Aztecs with 40 points coming inside the paint compared to 28 coming from SDSU
• Entering the contest, UA was averaging 13.4 points per game in fast break points but was outscored 8-0 in the category
• The Tide falls to 1-8 in nine all-time appearances in the Sweet 16
• Head coach Nate Oats falls to 10-4 (.714) in 14 career postseason games at Alabama (SEC and NCAA Tournaments)

FIRST HALF

• The first half featured seven lead changes and six ties
• With the Crimson Tide leading 19-16 at the 5:17 mark of the first half, UA's Jahvon Quinerly picked up a flagrant one foul, giving San Diego State two free throws and the ball
• From that point on, the Aztecs outscored the Tide 12-4 to take a 28-23 lead into the locker rooms
• Alabama made just eight field goals and shot 28 percent (8-of-29) from the field including hitting 1-of-11 from three
• San Diego State shot 32 percent (12-of-37) from the field and 25 percent (2-of-8) from beyond the arc in the opening frame
• Alabama started the game off 0-of-5 from three before Rylan Griffen rattled in the only made three in the opening stanza
• Alabama's 23 first half points marks the second least number of points that the Tide has scored in the first half this season (22 against Texas A&M on March 4)

SECOND HALF

• Alabama opened the first 1:48 of the second half on an 8-0 run to claim a 34-30 lead
• The Crimson Tide would extend the run to 17-6 over the opening 6:51 to take a 40-34 lead at the 14:07 mark
• UA would go on to take a nine-point at 48-39 with 11:31 left in the contest, forcing a SDSU timeout
• The Aztecs came out of the time out on a 12-0 run to regain the lead for good at 51-48 with 8:43 left to play
• San Diego State was able to take control by outscoring Alabama 11-5 to make it a 23-5 run and flipping a nine-point UA led to 62-53 lead at the under four-minute timeout
• The Tide cut the lead to two points, 66-64, with 46 seconds left to play, but would not score again
• Alabama outrebounded SDSU 30-23 in the second half