Auburn, the No. 1 overall seed, now has an opponent for its first-round game in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Lexington, Ky.It will be in-state foe Alabama State, a 70-68 winner Tuesday night against St. Francis (Pa.) in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. The Hornets authored a dramatic ending as Amarr Knox converted a last-second layup off a deflected length-of-the-floor pass for a 70-68 win.It was the seventh straight win for Alabama State (20-15), which is 11-1 in its last 12 games and has the chance to be the third 16th seed to beat a No. 1 seed. UMBC was the first, stunning Virginia in 2018, and Fairleigh Dickinson shocked Purdue in 2023.”I know we’re going to enjoy this tonight,” Hornets coach Tony Madlock said. “We’re going to have this bus ride, I guess a couple of hours down the road to play in Lexington at Rupp Arena. How can you beat that for a school in the SWAC that has a lot of great tradition for us to go play at Rupp Arena?”For Alabama State to have any kind of chance at pulling off a major upset, it’s probably going to need to get off to a quicker start than it did on Tuesday while playing the same kind of sticky defense that helped it overcome a virtual game-long deficit.It could use more heroics from Knox, a 6-foot-3 guard who is second on the Hornets in scoring at 14.3 points per game. They’ll also have to play to their strength – taking care of the ball. Their 8.7 turnovers per game rank seventh in Division I.The Tigers (28-5) certainly have the experience, depth and quickness to test Alabama State’s ability to value the ball, among other aspects. Although Auburn has lost three of its last four games, including a 70-65 decision Saturday against Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals, it still did more than enough to earn the NCAA Tournament’s top seed.Coach Bruce Pearl offered a heated response when a questioner asked after the game if he was pushing the panic button. His son, assistant coach Stephen Pearl, offered a more measured response on Tuesday.
