Record-Breaking Shooting Sends Tide to Elite Eight

Newark, N.J. - The Crimson Tide and the Cougars opened fast and furious scoring. With two styles that mirror each other, Alabama knew BYU would be able to score quickly. The Tide got things going early with a couple of big two from Mark Sears and Grant Nelson before BYU went on a 7-0 run to take the lead from Alabama.

The three-point shooting was hot for Alabama, but BYU was commanding the points in the paint early. Alabama knew it would need to score quickly against the Cougars.

The Crimson Tide's shooting slump appeared to be over, with Sears scoring 11 points while shooting 3-4 from three-point range over the first 10 minutes of the ball game. In addition to Sears, Aden Holloway was shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc.

One area of concern early for the Tide was points in the paint. With 10 minutes left until halftime, Alabama was getting outscored in the paint 18-4, and the Cougars had six second-chance points to Alabama's zero. Collecting boards needed to be something Alabama improved on if the Tide hoped to win the game.

Despite the lack of control on the defensive boards, Alabama continued to maintain a two-possession lead for much of the first half. Mark Sears's slump was officially over, with the Muscle Shoals native draining four of five three-point attempts early to collect 14 points before the under-eight-minute media timeout. Alabama had nine made threes by the under-eight timeout.

The three-point game was cooking for Alabama against BYU, led by AP First-Team All-American Mark Sears. With four minutes left in the first half, Sears led Alabama with 17 points and five made threes, while the Crimson Tide had 12 made threes as a team. Sears (five made threes) was just under halfway to the record for most threes made in an NCAA tournament game - 11 made by Jeff Fryer in 1990.

The Tide went into halftime riding high with an 11-point lead.

The second-half started even hotter for the Crimson Tide, with Alabama using an 8-0 Run just before the first media timeout of the second-half to extend the lead to 16 points, opening up the door for Alabama to make the Elite Eight for the second straight season and the third time in program history. Mark Sears was knocking on the door of history, with seven made threes with 16 minutes left in the game. Sears needed four to tie the all-time record for single-game made threes in the NCAA tournament.

BYU tried to give Alabama a fight, cutting the lead to single digits midway through the second half. However, Alabama remembered what they did from three in the first half, raining fire from beyond the arc to quickly push the lead to 18 points. Alabama's offensive explosion was on a record-setting level in the Sweet 16.

Alabama broke the record for made threes in an NCAA tournament game and did so with more than seven minutes left in the game. Alabama made 22 three-point shots, led by Sears with nine and Holloway with six. Alabama had the chance to extend the record with seven minutes left in the contest, although Alabama's 21-point lead encouraged head coach Nate Oats to take the foot off of the gas and begin preparation for the Elite Eight against Duke.

Alabama ended the night with 25 made threes. Sears came close to breaking another long-time-standing NCAA tournament record on Thursday night as well. With 10 made threes for Sears, he comes in second all-time in made three-point shots in a single game. Fryer holds onto his record set in 1990.

The Tide dominated the Cougars, 113-88, advancing to Alabama's third-ever Elite Eight and the Tide's second-straight appearance.

Alabama Stat Leaders

Points: Mark Sears- 34
Rebounds: Grant Nelson - 10
Assists: Mark Sears - 8

Alabama Players With Double-Digit Points

Mark Sears - 34
Aden Holloway - 23
Chris Youngblood - 19
Clifford Omoruyi - 10

Alabama will play the winner of Duke and Arizona on Saturday in the Elite Eight. The winner will go to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.