Ex-Cal Star Matt Bradley Heading to Elite 8 After San Diego State Stuns No. 1 Alabama
Matt Bradley’s decision to exit Cal for San Diego State two years ago was validated once more on Friday.
Bradley and his San Diego State teammates knocked off No. 1 overall seed Alabama 71-64 in Louisville, Kentucky, advancing to the Elite 8 round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.
The Aztecs (30-6) will play either Princeton or Creighton in Sunday’s regional final.
Ouch! Matt Bradley pays the price for hustle . . . and gets whistled for the foul.
Photo by Jordan Prather, USA Today
While the Pac-12 no longer has a team playing in the NCAAs, the Aztecs are thought to be a potential addition to the conference, providing the league with a southern California representative after USC and UCLA depart for the Big Ten.
The team’s top scorer on the season, Bradley was scoreless until the stretch run, when he was responsible for six of SDSU’s final nine points.
And he made two clutch free throws with 45 seconds left to give the Aztecs a 68-64 lead that held up.
A year ago, in a first-round 72-69 overtime loss to Creighton, Bradley missed a 1-and-1 free throw with 7 seconds left that could have sealed a victory in regulation.
Bradley missed his first seven shots against Alabama (31-6) then scored on a tough baseline drive in traffic for a 64-55 lead with 3:09 left. He then made a step-back jumper from the free throw area to make it 66-57 with 2:12 left.
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard, who entered the game averaging 13.0 points, went over 1,000 points in two seasons at SDSU and now has 1,002. Bradley totaled 27 points in the Aztecs’ NCAA wins over Charleston and Furman last weekend.
He scored 1,289 points in three years at Cal.
Alabama shot just 32 percent, including 3 for 27 on 3-point attempts. Brandon Miller, the Tide’s freshman All-America forward and a projected top-3 NBA draft pick, shot 3 for 19 and scored just nine points.
Cover photo of Matt Bradley by Jordan Prather, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
