Yes, Alabama was Due for a Big Shooting Night

Newark, N.J. - During media availability on Wednesday, Alabama guard Chris Youngblood said the Crimson Tide was due for a big shooting night.

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"If you're a 40 percent shooter, and you're shooting 15 percent for five games, I mean, you're due for a crazy game," Youngblood told The Next Round on Wednesday. "We're in a slump right now, but we're due for a couple of good games. It's around the right time, too, so I'm excited."

Youngblood might need to go to Las Vegas with that prediction, as Alabama had a crazy game shooting from three-point range in Thursday night's victory over BYU in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Youngblood shot 45 percent from three-point range, sinking five shots from beyond the arc in Alabama's win. He was joined by Labaron Philon (66 percent), Aiden Sherrell (100 percent), Aden Holloway (46 percent), and Mark Sears (62 percent) as Alabama players who made more than one three-point shot in the record-setting victory for Alabama on Thursday night.

Alabama broke the NCAA record for most three-point shots made in the NCAA tournament in Thursday's win. Alabama made 25 threes; the previous record was 22 in 1990.

Alabama also broke the record for most threes in a single game in program history. The 25 made threes broke the record previously set by the 2021 Crimson Tide against LSU, where John Petty (8-10) and Jahvon Quinerly (6-7) led the Crimson Tide to a 105-75 win.

What led to the Tide's monumental shooting night against BYU?

"My teammates just found me, honestly," Aden Holloway said postgame. "That's all I'll say about that. It was just a good game. My teammates found me, and I just tried to not focus on shot making and focus on everything else. And shot-making ended up working out a little bit. Just shout-out to my teammates for finding me all game."

"Honestly, like Coach said, we've been preparing all week to get our shot right," Sears said after the big win. "The amount of preparation we put in it led to the success we had tonight."

Does Alabama embrace the doubt it faces when the Tide is not shooting well?

""We love it because we know we’re the best team in the country when we get going," Youngblood said. "So when they doubt us, it just gives us this extra edge. You give a team like us an extra edge, we’re comfortable in that situation.”

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_.