The No. 1 seed in the South Region Auburn Tigers and No. 2 seed in the East Region Alabama Crimson Tide each took care of business in their second round games over the weekend after being tested.
In the NCAA Tournament, the name of the game is simply to survive and advance, and both teams find themselves together in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1986.
For Auburn, they had a tough matchup against an under-seeded Creighton team who led them at halftime and into the second half. Suffocating defense and holding the Bluejays scoreless for minutes at a time led to a rather comfortable looking 82-70 victory for the Tigers which was anything but comfortable throughout.
It was freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford for Auburn who led the way in scoring with another sensational game, putting up 23 points off the bench in the win:
Tahaad Pettiford with a BIG bucket to extend the lead back to 11 🪣#MarchMadness @AuburnMBB pic.twitter.com/lAZcvCz9u9
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2025
🚨ON HIS HEAD🚨 pic.twitter.com/5CyGwZTvJg
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 23, 2025
brb watching on repeat 🔂 pic.twitter.com/wntVLBYUEG
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 23, 2025
Chad Baker-Mazara added 17 points and Denver Jones another 15 to help their team get the win.
As for Alabama, after a nervy victory over No. 15 seed Robert Morris, a date with No. 7 seed St. Mary’s looked to be a tough test with two completely contrasting styles going at it.
Instead of wilting against a turtle-paced team however, the Tide took the fight to the Gaels and played one of their more complete games of the season, doing enough to handle a tough opponent with an 80-66 win and advance to their third consecutive second weekend of the tournament.
The scoring for Alabama was incredibly spread across the stat sheet with no player scoring more than 13. Chris Youngblood led the way while Mark Sears, Grant Nelson and Aden Holloway added 12 each, along with another 10 from both Clifford Omoruyi and Mouhamed Dioubate:
GRANT NELSON OH MY 😱#MarchMadness @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/qqiqUMOKxU
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
Cliff Omoruyi goes up for the slam 😤#MarchMadness @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/RR5WRdPwrt
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2025
Mouhamed Dioubate said NOT UP IN HERE @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/eKu4qMcCB1
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 23, 2025
Alabama and Auburn each face a tough test now in the next round. The Tide will be the first game of the second week on Thursday evening at 6:09 p.m. CST against the No. 6 seed BYU Cougars after they handled both Wisconsin and VCU in the first two rounds.
Auburn on the other hand will take on the No. 5 seeded Michigan Wolverines at 8:39 p.m. CST on Friday evening after Michigan defeated Texas A&M and UC San Diego with both teams searching for a trip to the Elite Eight.
Both the Tide and Tigers sit just two games away from the Final Four as this unbelievable season rolls on into another weekend.
