Brandon Miller heated up, and so did Alabama, which avoided the fate of two other top NCAA Tournament seeds and brushed aside Maryland 73-51 behind a dominant second half on Saturday night.

The Crimson Tide (31-5) advanced to their second Sweet 16 in the past three tournaments and ninth overall. Alabama will face fifth-seeded San Diego State in the South Region semifinals in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday.

Before the game even tipped off two top seeds, Purdue and defending national champion Kansas, had gone down, and No. 1 seed Houston trailed Tide rival Auburn by 10 points at halftime earlier at Legacy Arena before pulling away.

Alabama and Miller got off to a slow start, but the All-America freshman and top NBA prospect wound up with 19 points after going scoreless in the first-round game. Miller is nursing a groin injury and missed his first nine shots of the tournament.

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Jahvon Quinerly scored 22 points on the one-year anniversary of his left knee injury early in a second-round loss to Notre Dame, which still limited him earlier this season. Quinerly made 4 of 6 3-pointers.

Charles Bediako had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Alabama's starters hit the bench with a couple of minutes left to chants of "Sweet 16" in the friendly crowd.

Julian Reese had 14 points for Maryland (22-13) before fouling out. Jahmir Young scored 12.

Alabama, the top overall seed, faced scant drama, unlike the other No. 1s.

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 No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson toppled top-seeded Purdue 63-58 on Friday in only the second such upset. Then No. 8 Arkansas beat the Jayhawks 72-71 earlier Saturday. Houston ultimately pulled away from Auburn as the Tide waited for their opportunity.

The first half was more to Maryland's liking, other than the 28-23 deficit, for a team came in giving up just 63 points a game.

BIG PICTURE

Maryland: The 2002 national champion Terps failed to make their 15th trip to the Sweet 16 in coach Kevin Willard's first season. They also lost to Alabama in the second round two years ago under former coach Mark Turgeon. Maryland's defense was on point enough that it kept the lead for much of the first half despite a stretch of nine straight misses.

Alabama: Its depth has been on display so far. The Tide controlled the game despite not getting much scoring from starters Mark Sears and Noah Clowney or Nick Pringle, the star of the opening game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

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Alabama faces a San Diego State team making its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2004, which was also the year of the Tide's only Elite Eight run. The Crimson Tide have never reached the Final Four.

TLC's Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas shared her thoughts on having children with her boyfriend Matthew Lawrence.

The 52-year-old singer weighed in after the 43-year-old "Boy Meets World" alum stated that having children with her was "the game plan."

"You never know," Thomas said after being asked about Lawrence's comments during a Friday appearance on the "Ryan Cameron Uncensored" radio show, per Page Six.

"I would never say that [I’m done]," the mother of one added. 

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However, the "No Scrubs" hitmaker went on to say that she does have a requirement before she would consider having more children.

"I gotta be married for sure … and I’m not married, yet," Thomas said.

Thomas shares son Tron, 25 with her ex Dallas Austin. Lawrence was previously married to "Dancing With The Stars" pro Cheryl Burke, 38, from 2019 to 2022.

On March 3, Lawrence revealed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that he hopes he and Thomas will have children one day.

"That’s the game plan," "The Hot Chick" star shared. "That’s what we’re trying to do."

He continued, "My life is in a complete bloom right now. I get to spend time with an amazing woman like Chilli. I’ve never gotten to be able to experience that kind of a relationship before, so it’s quite special. She’s a really, really special human being."

However, Lawrence later clarified his remarks as he explained that he was referring to a plan he had with his older brother Joey Lawrence, 46. 

"It's such an interesting story," he told E! News on March 15. "Joe and I were commiserating about this plan that we had to have children together…when we were growing up."

He continued, "And I missed the first go around and now he's starting a new family and I was thinking, ‘Man, it'd be great if we could do it again, when I didn't have the chance to raise a family together.'"

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"So that’s what I meant by that," Lawrence added. "I didn’t mean to put any pressure on somebody I was dating or anything."

The "Mrs. Doubtfire" actor told the outlet that he would be "incredibly lucky" if he and Thomas eventually started a family.

"She's an amazing person," he said. "She's already a mother, she has an incredible son. I respect so much as to how she's raised him. She'd be an incredible mother again, and I'd be incredibly lucky, but that's way in the future."

Joey shares son Charleston, 16, and daughter Liberty, 13, with his ex-wife Chandie Yawn-Nelson. Last May, he married actress Samantha Cope and the two welcomed their first child together, daughter Dylan Rose, in January.

Lawrence and Thomas began dating last fall and went public with their relationship over New Year’s weekend.

The two posted a video to their Instagram pages in which they were seen dancing in their pajamas to A-ha’s hit "Take on Me." They hashtagged the video: "#newyearsshenanigans #onesiegang #wecute."