Alabama basketball broke a record that stood for more than 35 years, as they hit 25 three-pointers in a resounding victory over BYU. Now they will face Duke with a trip to San Antonio on the line.
Alabama basketball was the first team to punch its ticket to the Elite Eight with a dominant win over BYU. This is the second consecutive year that Alabama has reached the regional final. Last season, the Crimson Tide advanced to the Final Four, where they fell to the eventual National Champion UConn.
Alabama basketball and BYU are two of the highest-scoring offenses in the country. The Crimson Tide has the best-scoring offense at 91.4 points per game, while BYU ranks inside the top 25 at 81.4 points per game.
In the first half, Alabama basketball was in control and led by 11 at halftime, 51-40. In the first 20 minutes, BYU dominated the painted area, but it did not translate on the scoreboard because Alabama hit 12 three-pointers. This placed them just nine three-pointers short of the NCAA Tournament Record that was held by Loyola Marymount at 21.
In the second half, the Crimson Tide continued to let it fly from deep. With 7:41 remaining in the contest, Mark Sears nailed the record-setting three and Alabama basketball finished the game with 25 threes. Overall, the Tide put up a total of 51 triples in this game compared to just 15 two-point shots.
To put this in perspective, if Alabama had missed all 15 two-point attempts, they still would have scored 93 points. This includes free throws, but regardless, the Tide would have defeated BYU 93-88.
Loyola Marymount’s three-point record stood for just over 35 years. The Lions went 21-40 from behind the arc in the second round of the 1990 NCAA Tournament. In that win, they also set the record for most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game with 149. Ironically, the 11-seeded Lions defeated Alabama in the next round to advance to the Elite Eight. But Loyola Marymount followed up their record-breaking game with a lackluster performance, going 7-28 from behind the arc, against the Crimson Tide.
After the game, head coach Nate Oats was asked about the 1990 Loyola Marymount team. Oats had high praise for the Lions squad and drew comparisons from his coaching style to the record holding team.
“I loved watching them play. They got up-and-down. Maybe part of the reason we coach the way we coach. It’s a little more fun that way,” coach Oats said.
While there is a high possibility that Alabama regresses to the mean, it will all depend on how Duke guards ball screens and fills the gaps on the defensive end. BYU’s defensive strategy was to go under nearly every screen, which left enough space for the Crimson Tide to find open shots from behind the arc.
Regardless of Duke’s defensive strategy, momentum goes a long way in March, and there is not a team in college basketball that is hotter than Alabama.
[…] Final after a dominant performance against BYU. In the 113-88 win, the Crimson Tide connected on 25 three-pointers. This set a new NCAA Tournament record. Loyola Marymount previously held that for their second-round […]
[…] the Sweet Sixteen, Alabama broke Loyola Marymount’s NCAA Tournament Record by hitting 25 three-pointers. However, in the game after Loyola Marymount set the record, they went […]