Alabama men’s basketball downed BYU 113-88 in the Sweet 16 Thursday night, advancing to the Elite Eight for the second straight year and its third all-time appearance .
“That was a fun game if you like offense. That was fun for the fans, I’m sure, at least for the Alabama fans,” head coach Nate Oats said.
The story of the game was Alabama’s prolific 3-point shooting. The team shot 25/51 — the most made 3-pointers and 3-point attempts in an NCAA Tournament game.
The Crimson Tide’s pace was fast to start the game, with both teams looking to get out and run early. Alabama shot 7/14 from deep out of the gate to take a 27-25 lead in less than 10 minutes of action, despite allowing a 9-0 run.
The Crimson Tide ended the half on a 10-4 run and its lead stretched to 51-40 thanks to poor 3-point shooting from the Cougars and high-percentage looks falling for Alabama.
BYU shot just 1/13 from beyond the arc, while the Crimson Tide converted on 12/27 attempts.
Turnovers nagged both teams in the first frame as both committed seven each. However, most of Alabama’s came in the first few minutes when the Cougars surged.
BYU came out of the gate hot, drilling a 3-pointer to kick off the second half and looking to shoot its way back into the game. The Crimson Tide responded with a 12-4 run to give the team a 63-47 lead in the first four minutes.
A flurry of Alabama fouls led to an 11-3 run for the Cougars with 13:56 left to make the score 66-58, shifting momentum in their direction for the first time since the first minutes of the game.
Rather than allow a comeback attempt, the Crimson Tide responded by getting shot after shot to fall, extending the lead to 21 at 91-70 with 8:32 left in the game.
Alabama cruised the rest of the way en route to consecutive Elite Eight appearances, winning by 25 points.
Oats attributed his team’s historic night to the work that was put in the nights leading up to the game.
“We were in the gym last night, the night before,” he said. These guys show up for voluntary shooting every time it’s available to make sure that they’re ready to go, and that work pays off. We want to base our program on hard work.”
He also noted that all of the players played well in their roles throughout the game.
Sears was the team’s top performer, scoring 34 points on 10/16 shooting from deep. He also added a team-high 8 assists.
“I never stopped doubting myself and stopped believing in myself,” he said. “My teammates kept encouraging me to keep shooting it, keep shooting it, keep shooting it.”
Guards Aden Holloway and Chris Youngblood also significantly contributed to the total. Holloway scored 23 points on 6/13 shooting from the 3-point line, while Youngblood added 19 points on 5/11 shooting from long range.
“Shout-out to my teammates for finding me all game,” Holloway said.
The Crimson Tide will return to the Prudential Center for the Elite Eight on Saturday versus the winner of tonight’s game between Duke and Arizona.
