NEWARK, N.J. – It was Mark Sears Night in Atlanta.
The First Team All-American from Muscle Shoals broke out of a shooting slump with 10 three-pointers as his Tide teammates drained a school-, SEC- and NCAA Tournament-record 25 three-pointers on its way to a 113-88 victory over No. 6 seed BYU in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night.
“His last six games he was shooting 14%, 5-of-35,” Head Coach Nate Oats said. “He’s not a 14% shooter, obviously.”
With the victory, the No. 2 seed Crimson Tide takes on the East Region’s No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils on Saturday. It is the first time Bama has made consecutive Elite Eight appearances and it’s their third appearance overall.
“That was a fun game if you like offense,” said Oats. “That was fun for the fans, I’m sure, at least for the Alabama fans.”
Sears was dominant throughout the contest, finishing with 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field, 10-of-16 from beyond the arc and eight assists. Combined with his scoring total and the 22 points that came of his eight assiss, Sears accounted for 56 of the Tide’s point total.
Sears was not the only weapon for Alabama (28-8), as Aden Holloway came off the bench to score 23 points on six three-pointers (6-of-13), while Chris Youngblood had 19 and five treys with Clifford Omoruyi adding 10 points.
In scouting BYU, Oats said the Tide had noted some defensive tendencies by the Cougars and worked on that at practice.
“(BYU) had been going under ball screens just about every game we watched,” he said. “I told both those guys, (Aden) Holloway and Sears, man, I hope they go under us because we’re going to reign them. So, we were in the gym last night, the night before.
“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.”
The Cougars (26-10) were led by Richie Saunders’ 25 points and six rebounds to pace three players in double figures.
“I am so proud of our guys,” Oats said. “We’re in the Elite Eight for the third time in school history and back-to-back seasons. I thought everybody played well in their roles tonight.”
Team stats
- In addition to setting records from beyond the arc, the Crimson Tide also set new school marks for most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game, most three-pointers attempted (51)
- Sears (10-of-16), Holloway (6-of-13) and Youngblood (5-of-11) combined to knock down 21-of-40 (52.5 percent) from beyond the arc
- Alabama outscored BYU 75-18 from beyond the arc (25 made threes compared to six from BYU)
- The Tide finished with 27 assists on 35 made shots
- Sears finished with eight assists that resulted directly to 22 Alabama points, giving him 56 points he was responsible for on the night
- Youngblood surpassed 2,000 career points on the night (2,010)
- Alabama went on to finish the night shooting 53% (35-of-66) from the field, 49% (25-of-51) from deep and 86% (18-of-21) from the charity stripe
- BYU shot 46% (33-of-72) from the floor, 20% (6-of-30) from beyond the arc and 80% (16-of-20) from the free throw line.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our email newsletter to have all our smart stories delivered to your inbox.
