Seattle ? Josh Childress watched from the end of the bench as Stanford’s latest comeback attempt came up just short, bouncing off the rim.

This time, there was no fantastic finish for the Cardinal.

Dan Grunfeld missed a three-pointer from the right wing at the horn, and Stanford became the first No. 1 seed to exit the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, shocked by Alabama, 70-67.

“We’re extremely disappointed,” coach Mike Montgomery said, looking stunned. “It’s hard to figure out what to say. We just never could seem to get on track.”

Kennedy Winston scored 21 points and Alabama (19-13) shot 10-of-14 from the free-throw line in the final minute.

“People think by our record that we’re not a very good team,” said Tide point guard Antoine Pettway, who scored 12 points. “But we just beat Stanford.”

The Crimson Tide shot 34-of-44 from the foul line, riding the free throws to the round of 16 for the first time since 1991. Alabama heads to Phoenix next week to face Syracuse.

“We always felt we could beat anybody. Now we really know it,” said Alabama’s Chuck Davis, who scored 12. “They were the No. 1 team in the country, and it gives us a lot of confidence going to Phoenix.”

Childress, the Pac-10 player of the year, scored 12 points but he fouled out with 3:16 to play and had to watch the final minutes.

“I never felt like it slipped away,” Childress said. “They hit their free throws, which was unfortunate for us, but I don’t ever feel like it slipped away.”

Matt Lottich hit a three-pointer with 7.2 seconds remaining to pull the Cardinal to 70-67, and Alabama’s Earnest Shelton missed two free throws at the other end to give Stanford (30-2) a final chance.

Lottich made a desperation three-pointer to salvage a win March 4 at Washington State, and he hit another against the Tide with 23.6 seconds on the clock to pull Stanford to 67-62.

Syracuse 72,

Maryland 70

Denver — Hakim Warrick had 26 points and nine rebounds, and Syracuse nearly blew a 16-point lead before hanging on to beat Maryland in a matchup between the last two NCAA champions. Gerry McNamara added 13 points for Syracuse (23-7). Travis Garrison and Jamar Smith led Maryland (20-12) with 16 points apiece.

UConn 72, DePaul 55

Buffalo, N.Y. — Ben Gordon scored 18 points, Denham Brown had 12, Taliek Brown had 11, and Emeka Okafor had 10 points and 12 rebounds to lead Connecticut. The Huskies (29-6), the Big East champion and second seed in the Phoenix Regional, advanced to the round of 16 for the 10th time in coach Jim Calhoun’s 18 years as coach and will play either North Carolina State or Vanderbilt. Drake Diener led the seventh-seeded Blue Demons (22-10) with 15 points. Delonte Holland and Quemont Greer each scored 12.