LOS ANGELES – The Alabama men's basketball team made history Saturday night in Crypto.com Arena, as the No. 4 seed Crimson Tide reached the program's first-ever Final Four, defeating No. 6 seed Clemson, 89-82, in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Elite Eight.
Mark Sears, who was named the West Region Most Valuable Player, led five UA players in double figures, finishing with a game high 23 points on 7-14 shooting from beyond the arc. Nick Pringle collected a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards while Jarin Stevenson added a career-best 19 points on five made threes. Rylan Griffen (13) and Aaron Estrada (10) also scored in double digits to lead the Tide (25-11). In addition to Sears, Alabama's Grant Nelson was named to the West Region All-Tournament Team.
Clemson (24-12) was led by Joseph Girard III who scored 19 points on 5-10 shooting from deep, while Ian Schieffelin added 18 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
THE TIDE IS ROLLING TO THE FINAL FOUR!#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/fSKwuWmUva
— Alabama Men's Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) March 31, 2024See AlsoAlabama Basketball Comes Back to Win Overtime Thriller over ArkansasRewinding No. 4 Alabama’s historic Sweet 16 upset of No. 1 North CarolinaAlabama holds off top-seeded North Carolina 89-87 to reach Elite Eight for 2nd time ever3 takeaways as Alabama nabs biggest win of season over No. 8 Auburn
Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments
"I couldn't be more proud of a group of guys. We challenged them at the beginning of this tournament that we're going to have to pick up our defense, and our defense got significantly better. And they've just been all about winning. I mean, nobody really cares who's scoring the points, and get a little frustrated and they just keep playing together. I mean, I've got multiple guys telling me to keep other guys in the game. And there's been no selfishness in this four-game run.
"Clemson got up 13 on us. And after that we went on a big run to close the half to have a three-point lead. And they made some runs on us in the second half. And it seemed like we just hit timely three after timely three, whether it was Jarin or Rylan or Mark. Mark hit one, felt like it was from half court. And it was big three after big three.
"I am truly proud of these guys. We're going to enjoy it for a night, go enjoy Easter Sunday back in Tuscaloosa. And then figure out the plans when we're going to Phoenix."
TEAM STATS
- With the Elite Eight victory, Alabama advances to the program's first-ever Final Four
- The win was Alabama's eighth NCAA Tournament victory in the last four seasons, with head coach Nate Oats improving to 8-3 (.727) over the stretch
- Jarin Stevenson came off the bench to score 19 points on 7-11 shooting and 5-8 from beyond the arc
- Alabama connected on 70 percent (16-23) from the floor in the second half including knocking down 10-15 (67 percent) from beyond the arc
- The Tide opened the contest hitting just one three-pointer over the first 13 three-point attempts, but connected on 15-23 (.652) for the remainder of the game
- UA outrebounded Clemson 44-33 on the night and owned a 15-6 edge in second chance points
- Clemson went 8-16 (50 percent) from the charity stripe while Alabama went 15-22 (68 percent)
- The Tide ended up with 20 assists on 29 made baskets, as Rylan Griffen finished with a career-best eight assists
- Alabama finished with six swats in the game and now has accumulated 22 blocks over the last three contests, its best stretch of the season
That Final Four Confetti ?? pic.twitter.com/YTSN5KP7II
— Alabama Men's Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) March 31, 2024
FIRST HALF
- After a slow start from both teams, Clemson used a 14-2 run to take its largest lead of the half at 26-13 with 7:54 left
- The Crimson Tide responded with a 20-2 run over the next 6:04 to regain the lead at 33-28 with just over a minute remaining
- In all, Alabama would go on to outscore Clemson 22-6 over the final 7:54 to take a 35-32 lead at intermission
- Jarin Stevenson led the Tide with 10 points while Rylan Griffen added eight points and four rebounds
SECOND HALF
- Clemson scored the first four points of the half to take a 36-35 lead, the last lead it would hold the rest of the contest
- Alabama responded with five straight points to regain the lead, 40-36
- Leading 62-59, Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson hit back-to-back treys to stretch the lead to nine
- The Tide never led by less the three the rest of the way
- Sears finished the half with 18 points on 6-7 shooting from deep, while Nick Pringle added 13 points and seven boards
UP NEXT
- The Crimson Tide will take on the tournament's No. 1 overall seed and East Region champion UConn in the 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four on Saturday, April 6
- The tip time and television information for the national semifinal will be announced at a later date
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaMBB on X, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on X and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
