Miami tips off close to home in First Four

DAYTON — March Madness tips off with the First Four, featuring one of this season's best stories in Miami (Ohio). Coming off their only loss of the season, the RedHawks have a chance to silence some skeptics against fellow No. 11 seed SMU (20-13) late Wednesday. The RedHawks, who are back in the tournament for the first time since 2007, were rewarded with a game in Dayton, roughly 43 miles from campus."It's going to be a great environment," RedHawks coach Travis Steele said. "Hopefully the RedHawk nation will be showing up there on Wednesday night to support us. I'm sure they will (and) it will be a home game for us."There were two games Tuesday night to open the tournament.Despite a 31-1 record, Miami wasn't assured of a bid due to its schedule ranking 339th nationally with no Quadrant 1 opponents. After recording just the eighth unbeaten regular season in the past 50 years. Miami lost to UMass in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, putting their tournament hopes in jeopardy."I was very confident," forward Eian Elmer said. "I think it's hard to leave a team that's 31-0 in a regular season out. It just wouldn't look right for the sport, diminishing something like that, something that's very rarely done."The winner will face No. 6 seed Tennessee in Philadelphia.SWAC champion Prairie View A&M will face Patriot League champ Lehigh in a matchup of No. 16 seeds in Wednesday's first game. Lehigh (18-16) is making its sixth tournament appearance while Prairie View (18-17) is making its third. The winner will face top-seeded Florida in Tampa. Boozer unanimous first-teamer Duke forward Cameron Boozer, BYU star AJ Dybantsa and Darius Acuff Jr. of Arkansas were announced Tuesday as first-team AP All-Americans. Boozer was a unanimous choice among the 61 voters that select the weekly Top 25 for The Associated Press, following in the footsteps of Cooper Flagg, who also was a unanimous choice as a freshman for the Blue Devils last season. Dybantsa was a first-team pick on all but four ballots, while Acuff was a first-team selection on 47 of the ballots. Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan and JT Toppin of Texas Tech rounded out the five-member first team. Braden Smith of Purdue, who needs two assists to break Bobby Hurley's career Division I record, earned 12 first-team votes and was chosen a second-team All-American. Smith was a first-team pick last season and honorable mention for the 2023-24 season. The senior from Westfield, Indiana, was joined on the second team by Big Ten rivals Jeremy Fears of Michigan State and Keaton Wagler of Illinois. Joshua Jefferson of Iowa State and North Carolina freshman Caleb Wilson rounded out the team.Bama star faces felony charge TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama guard Aden Holloway was arrested on a felony drug charge just days before the start of the NCAA Tournament, authorities said. Coach Nate Oats said Holloway has been suspended indefinitely, adding that the Crimson Tide are preparing to play without him this week. "We've got standards in our program and ways we've held our guys accountable," Oats said Tuesday during his weekly radio show. Holloway, 21, was arrested after agents with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force searched a residence near Alabama's campus and "recovered more than a pound of marijuana, paraphernalia and cash," Tuscaloosa police spokesperson Stephanie Taylor told The Associated Press in an email. "The student has been removed from campus pending further investigation by the UA Office of Student Conduct," the university said in a statement. Holloway was arrested on a first-degree charge of marijuana possession, not for personal use, which is a Class C felony, and failure to affix a tax stamp. Holloway is second on the team in scoring, averaging 16.8 points a game, and leads the Crimson Tide in 3-point shooting. He is hitting 43.1% from behind the arc.