The NCAA and its broadcast partners at CBS and TNT Sports have announced start times and TV information for Sunday’s second-round NCAA Tournament games, including the East Region matchup between the No. 2 seed Alabama Crimson Tide and No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s Gaels.
Unlike Friday, Alabama and other March Madness fans won’t have to do the annual search for where truTV is on their channel lineups to watch the Crimson Tide play.
Alabama vs. Saint Mary’s will tip at 5:10 p.m. CT Sunday. The game will be televised on TNT. Spero Dedes (play-by-play) and Jim Spanarkel (analyst) will have the TV call of the game from Rocket Arena in Cleveland, with Jon Rothstein reporting from the sidelines.
Alabama (26-8 overall) held off an upset bid by Robert Morris for a 90-81 victory in the first round of the East Region bracket. Mark Sears led the Crimson Tide with 22 points, including 19 in the second half, and star forward Grant Nelson came off the bench to give his teammates a much-needed jolt of energy and helping hand.
Nelson had five points on two dunks for five points and three rebounds in seven minutes. His slam with 2:13 to play gave Alabama a double-digit lead after Robert Morris had taken a 65-64 lead with around seven minutes to play. Mouhamed Dioubate had 18 points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes for a double-double, and fellow big man Cliff Omoruyi had 17 points on 8-of-8 shooting.
A few hours after Alabama had left the court in Cleveland, Saint Mary’s (29-5) defeated No. 10 seed Vanderbilt, 59-56. The Gaels erased a 12-point deficit in the second half and held on after Devin McGlockton’s 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim. Saint Mary’s won the West Coast Conference regular-season championship by finishing 17-1 in league play.
If Alabama gets past Saint Mary’s, the Crimson Tide would face the winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 seed game between the Wisconsin Badgers and BYU Cougars in the Sweet 16 in Newark, N.J.
Sunday’s game will mark the first ever meeting between Alabama and Saint Mary’s.
