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  • No. 4 Seeded Alabama Defeats A Stubborn Grand Canyon Squad To Reach The Sweet 16

No. 4 Seeded Alabama Defeats A Stubborn Grand Canyon Squad To Reach The Sweet 16

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Basketball

The No. 4 seed Alabama men's basketball team used a late run and clutch baskets down the stretch to advance past a stubborn 12th-seeded Grand Canyon squad, 72-61, in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Round of 32 Sunday night. With the win, the Crimson Tide advances to its 10th Sweet 16 in school history, and the third time in the last four years under head coach Nate Oats.

The victory didn't come easy, as the Lopes fought back from a 10-point second half deficit to take a 58-55 lead with 6:03 left to play. From that point on, the Crimson Tide dominated, outscoring GCU 17-3 the rest of the way, including 10-straight points to secure the win.

Mark Sears led the way with a double-double, accounting for 26 points and 12 rebounds to go along with six assists and three steals. Ryan Griffen added 13 points, all coming in the first half, with Aaron Estrada adding eight points,10 rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments

"Character win, I think. We had a chance, could have folded, had a lot of things that didn't go our way, a lot of foul trouble. They lived at the free-throw line. Our guys started to show a little frustration and I thought we pulled it together and showed a lot of mental toughness. We've been using the word next a lot lately, next play, just go to the next play, like, forget about the call that didn't go your way, forget about the turnover, forget about the offensive possession where you missed or your teammate missed. It doesn't matter, just play hard on defense. This is one of our best defensive games of the year.

"We fouled too much, they shot 37 free throws, we obviously benefited from them not shooting it great at the line, but when we didn't foul, we got pretty good stops. Tyon Grant-Foster is the real deal. But he scored 29, went to the free-throw line 16 times and took 22 shots.

"So, we're playing next Thursday. There's only going to be 16 left. I think our non-conference schedule got us ready for this. Four teams in the non-conference are all in the Sweet 16 and we lost to all four, but I thought we got better from it. So, our defense is getting better as the year goes on. This might have been our best defensive performance of the year."

TEAM STATS

  • Mark Sears joined former UA great Mo Williams (2002) as the only players in school history to have at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a NCAA Tournament game
  • Sears collected his first double-double of the season and the sixth of his career
  • Aaron Estrada grabbed double-digit rebounds for the third time this season and the fifth time in his career
  • Alabama swatted a season-best nine shots, the most ever in an NCAA Tournament contest
  • The Tide also collected 10 steals, and held the Lopes to 32 percent (18-56) and 10 percent (2-20) from beyond the arc
  • Alabama's bench outscored Grand Canyon's reserves, 20-2
  • UA finished with a 50-41 edge on the glass, including a 27-17 advantage in the second half alone
  • The Lopes finished 23-37 (62.2 percent) from the charity stripe while the Tide was 16-22 (72.7 percent)

FIRST HALF

  • Both teams started cold from the field as Alabama (2-12) and Grand Canyon (1-13) combined to shoot 3-25 over the opening seven-plus minutes
  • The Tide held the lead for all but 57 seconds of the half
  • With the game tied at 28-28, the Crimson Tide finished the half on a 10-2 run over the final 2:51 to take a 36-28 lead into the locker room
  • Mark Sears (13) and Rylan Griffen (13) combined for 26 points and were 8-13 from the field and 5-9 from deep
  • The Alabama defense was stellar, limiting the Lopes to 29 percent (9-31) from the field and 16.7 percent (2-9) from deep while collecting six blocks and four steals

SECOND HALF

  • Alabama took a 10-point lead early in the second half after a Sears layup
  • Grand Canyon went on a 12-3 run to turn a 52-46 deficit into a 58-55 lead with 6:03 left to play
  • The Tide used a 17-3 run the rest of the way, which included eight consecutive points from reserve forward Mouhamed Dioubate
  • UA finished the game on a 10-0 over the final 3:49 to result in the final score

UP NEXT

  • Alabama will take on No. 1 seed North Carolina Thursday, March 28, inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles
  • The contest will tip off at approximately 8:30 p.m. CT (6:30 p.m. PT) and will be televised on CBS