LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The Auburn Tigers are experienced and remember all too well the feeling of being one-and-done at the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
Watching Alabama State win on a last-second bucket to reach Thursday's first round?
No better reminder of how quickly fortunes change during March Madness.
“Anybody can have that ‘ One Shining Moment,’” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Wednesday.
His Tigers (28-5) come in as the tournament's overall No. 1 seed and play 16th-seeded Alabama State on Thursday in the South Region. Pearl said that seeding, which he lobbied for after his Tigers lost in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals, is in the “rearview mirror.”
Auburn watched Alabama State's thrilling win on TV.
Pearl also reminded his Tigers on Wednesday of their loss as a No. 4 seed to Yale a year ago. He noted that Alabama State, which plays about 50 miles away in Montgomery, beat his Tigers by a point in the second half of an Auburn win in December 2023 with a lot of the same players on both teams.
Knowing Auburn is six wins from the program’s first national championship in basketball is the goal. The Tigers have made one Final Four — in 2019. They haven't gotten past the second round in four of their last five tournaments.
AP All-American Johni Broome said the message is simple with so many seniors.
“It’s win or go home,” Broome said. “If you’re not willing to step up and play your best basketball now, then why you playing it?”
Alabama State (20-15) won't be awed by Auburn. Coach Tony Madlock spent four years as an assistant with the Tigers, and this season his team made trips to LSU and Missouri.
The Hornets' bigger challenge is surviving the roller coaster of kicking off the NCAA Tournament with a last-second win, getting back to their hotel in Dayton, Ohio, at 1:15 a.m. and getting to Lexington on Wednesday. They tip off Thursday around 2:50 p.m. at Rupp Arena with little sleep.
Coming off the historically Black university's first NCAA Tournament victory?
“Nothing's going to dampen this moment for us,” Madlock said.
Thursday's other games in the South Region feature No. 8 seed Louisville playing ninth-seeded Creighton in Lexington and, in Denver, No. 5 seed Michigan meeting No. 12 seed UC San Diego and fourth-seeded Texas A&M facing No. 13 seed Yale.
Time hasn't quelled questions for the NCAA Tournament selection committee over seeding Louisville eighth in the South Region against No. 9 Creighton.
At first glance, the placement appeared to dismiss the No. 10 Cardinals’ remarkable 19-game improvement and runner-up Atlantic Coast Conference finish, especially with Clemson seeded three spots higher in the Midwest despite losing to Louisville and finishing third in the ACC.
The Cardinals and first-year coach Pat Kelsey appeared unfazed despite several chances to speak up Wednesday. They see the bright spot of traveling just 75 miles east to Rupp Arena — where Louisville fell 93-85 to rival Kentucky in a turning-point game. They also get another opportunity to prove themselves.
“We were a little bit shocked that our name was called that early for sure,” said guard J’Vonne Hadley, one of Louisville’s 15 transfers. “But we’re just grateful to be in this place and after that we got right to work. So we were determined right away.”
Swingman Terrence Edwards Jr. noted Louisville’s experience, especially in March Madness. The short trip is a big benefit.
“Our family is able to drive down to the game,” Edwards said. “So, yeah, everything works out.”
Texas A&M doesn’t list a rotational player taller than 6-foot-9, yet is one of the best rebounding teams in the country.
The Aggies rank fourth in total rebounding at 41.2 per game and lead the nation in offensive rebounding average at 16.2 despite their leader in that category averaging 6.2 a game — 6-7 senior Andersson Garcia.
Size doesn’t matter when effort is there.
“There’s a lot of analytics that go into it, everybody likes to talk about it, but it’s just a mindset,” Henry Coleman III said. “It’s you versus another guy. Somebody is going to get that ball, and hopefully it’s yourself.”
The Aggies make rebounding a science to offset any size disadvantage and poor shooting.
“Since the pandemic, we have realized that that was a way for us to create a niche at Texas A&M relative to our roster and our style of play, to create a competitive margin,” coach Buzz Williams said. “Last year we shot more balls than any team in Division I over the last seven years. A lot of that is because we don’t make shots. A lot of that is because we rebound the shots that we miss.”
Yale doesn’t have a size advantage against the Aggies — its tallest player is 6-10 Samson Aleton — but also is strong on the glass. The Bulldogs rank 26th in the country in rebounding at 38.7 and 139th in offensive boards at 11.1.
They know rebounding could be the difference in an upset win or quick exit.
“It’s been a huge point of emphasis for us. I think we’re all dialed into it,” said Nick Townsend, who leads Yale with 7.2 rebounds per game.
Dusty May and Vladislav Goldin led underdog FAU to the 2023 Final Four in one of the most bracket-busting NCAA Tournaments. A year later, the pair migrated north to Michigan, where the Wolverines are the favorite against UC San Diego in the South Region on Thursday night.
May guided the Owls to their first Final Four two years ago as a No. 9 seed but is on the other side of the ledger in his first year coaching Michigan. The perspective is different but the goal remains to survive and advance — and to avoid an upset, which happens often in the 5-12 seed matchup.
May knows from 2023 that the underdog plays with less pressure, and it can lead to problems for the favorite.
“When we played the Power Five teams, we felt like when it got late in the game and the game slowed down that they played — I don’t want to say they played tight, but we played looser and we played with more confidence.
“It’s March Madness; everyone is going to love the Cinderella. This is a very, very popular upset pick for a reason — because they’re really, really good.”
Goldin, averaging 16.7 points a game, is Michigan’s leading scorer in his first year with the program and has the most tournament experience thanks to FAU’s run two years ago. Like May, he has perspective about teams being expected to win — or not.
“We try to think that there is no underdog or any favorite, because as soon as you start thinking who’s underdog, who’s the favorite, you’re losing that reality,” he said.
The South has two games being played Friday in Milwaukee, with No. 3 seed Iowa State against 14th-seeded Lipscomb in its second-ever berth and No. 6 seed Mississippi facing 11th-seeded North Carolina.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
Yale guard Bez Mbeng (2) celebrates with Yale head coach James Jones, center right, after defeating Cornell in an Ivy League tournament championship NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Creighton's Jamiya Neal (5), Jackson McAndrew (23) and Steven Ashworth (1) watch during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against the St. John's in the championship of the Big East Conference tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
SYDNEY (AP) — Two gunmen attacked a Hannukah celebration on a Sydney beach Sunday, killing at least 11 people in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitism and terrorism.
The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular and iconic beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those episodes and Sunday’s shooting were connected. It is the deadliest shooting for almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.
One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second, who was arrested, was in critical condition, authorities said. Police said one of the gunmen was known to the security services, but that there had been no specific threat.
At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.
Police said officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including several improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspect’s cars.
“This attack was designed to target Sydney's Jewish community,” the state's premier, Chris Minns, said. The massacre was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and weapons used, Lanyon said.
Hundreds had gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.
Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs scores of centers around the world that are popular with Jewish travelers and sponsors large public events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event.
Video footage filmed by onlookers appeared to show two gunmen with long guns firing from a footbridge leading to the beach. One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.
Minns called the man a “genuine hero.”
Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi about 6.45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired.
Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told The Associated Press he was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots. He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.
“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. ... I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes.
“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible," Moran said.
The violence erupted at the end of a hot summer day when thousands had flocked to the beach.
“It was the most perfect day and then this happened,” said local resident Catherine Merchant.
“Everyone was just running and there were bullets and there were so many of them and we were really scared,” she told Australia’s ABC News.
Albanese told reporters in the Australian capital, Canberra, that he was “devastated” by the massacre.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.
“Amidst this vile act of violence and hate will emerge a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith,” he said.
World leaders expressed condolences. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “ghastly terrorist attack” and offered his condolences to the families who lost their loved ones.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the “appalling attack.” Police in London said they would step up security at Jewish sites.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Antisemitism has no place in this world.”
Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.
Throughout last summer, the country was rocked by spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population live.
Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran. The authorities didn't make such claims about Sunday's massacre.
Israel urged Australia's government to address crimes targeting Jews.
“The heart of the entire nation of Israel misses a beat at this very moment,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. “We repeat our alerts time and time again to the Australian government to seek action and fight against the enormous wave of antisemitism which is plaguing Australian society.”
Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.
Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014, and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.
In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.
McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
A small Christmas tree is at the center of an abandoned holiday picnic at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Bystanders stay where police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers standby at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
