LOS ANGELES — The offense of the fourth-seeded Alabama men’s basketball team came alive in the second half to beat No. 6 seed Clemson 89-82 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament West Regional Elite Eight matchup.
Alabama’s Mark Sears’ explosive second-half efforts led him to 23 points and Nick Pringle recorded a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Rylan Griffen added 13 points and eight assists and Jarin Stevenson came off the bench to contribute 19 points.
The Crimson Tide (25-11) made school history and will head to Phoenix for the program’s first-ever trip to the Final Four. Alabama will play top-seeded UConn, which beat No. 3 seed Illinois 77-52 on Saturday.
Alabama’s Mark Sears came into the matchup at the SEC’s top-scoring player and was averaging 24.7 points in the tournament, but Clemson (24-12) had limited the 6-foot-1 senior guard early on.
The Tigers’ man defense imposed dramatic force on the Tide in the paint and rarely left Sears unguarded. The senior was able to kick out to teammates for 3-pointers, which helped Alabama go on an 11-point scoring run that ended as the clock reached the five-minute mark.
The Tide pulled down 28 rebounds to win the battle on the boards in the first half, but the offense went cold early on. Alabama’s offense slowly warmed up but made 13 of 39 shots before halftime.
Clemson led by at 13 points with 7:54 left in the opening half thanks in part to Ian Schieffelin’s early hot hand that led him to 10 first-half points. He ended the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Schieffelin made a two-handed dunk within the first 1:30 of the game and followed up with a layup after that to set the Tigers up for a 6-0 scoring run.
Four other Tigers finished in double-digit scoring figures in Hunter Chase (12), Joseph Girard III (19), PJ Hall (14) and RJ Godfrey (12).
Alabama escaped with a narrow 35-32 lead after a Griffen layup, an optimistic look ahead of the rest of the game.
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Offensive efficiency skyrocketed in the second half for the Tide, who had made seven of nine field goals and five out of nine shots from behind the arc by the eight-minute media timeout.
Hall was flexing after a one-handed dunk that gave Clemson a 42-41 advantage three minutes into the second half, but Grant Nelson responded with a dunk of his own to put Alabama out front once again.
Sears got loose to score 18 points in the second half. He exuded confidence, sticking his tongue out while holding up three fingers on each hand after draining a three from the top of the key for a 68-59 lead with 6:22 to go in the game.
It was all downhill from there for Alabama, which made 67% of its shots in the second half.
Alabama’s appearance in the Elite Eight was its first since 2004 and second in school history. Head coach Nate Oats has now won seven NCAA Tournament games in four seasons.
Nate Oats cuts down the net in Los Angeles. Alabama is headed to the school’s first Final Four. pic.twitter.com/SW2uLoIzUY
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) March 31, 2024