Alabama will make rare venture into Elite Eight
Alabama’s mantra for this NCAA tournament is next — as in the next play, next game, next everything. What’s next for the Crimson Tide is the second Elite Eight in school history.
Grant Nelson converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds remaining, and Alabama became the first team in this year’s tournament to oust a No. 1 seed, beating North Carolina 8987 on Thursday night.
“These guys are bringing their competitive side out at the right time,” Tide coach Nate Oats said. “You want to be peaking in March and we’re peaking in March.”
Nelson finished with a season-high 24 points, 19 in the second half, and he blocked RJ Davis’ attempt at a tying layup after giving Alabama the lead. He had 12 rebounds and five blocks.
“I thought I had an advantage on Nelson and he was able to swat it,” Davis said.
Rylan Griffen added 19 points, tying his career high with five three-pointers, and Aaron Estrada also scored 19 for the No. 4 Tide (24-11).
The Tide face sixthseeded Clemson on Saturday for a Final Four berth.
“We’ve been working for this all season but this isn’t our end goal,” said Nelson, a 6-foot-11 senior who played at North Dakota State his first three years.
Mark Sears, Alabama’s leading scorer this season, finished with 18 points after making just two field goals in the second half when Nelson dominated.
“I was very proud of him,” Sears said. “He was struggling the first two games. To see him carry us, it was very amazing.”
Clemson 77, Arizona 72:
Chase Hunter scored 18 points and converted a three-point play with 25.7 seconds remaining, and the Tigers advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history, beating the Wildcats at Crypto.com Arena.
PJ Hall added 17 points for the sixth-seeded Tigers (24-11), who advanced to face No. 4 seed Alabama.
“We have confidence in our team,” said Clemson coach Brad Brownell, who’s in the Elite Eight for the first time in a 22-year coaching career that includes one previous Sweet 16 appearance in 14 seasons with the Tigers. “I’ve got an older team. These guys have seen a lot, done a lot and experienced success. And so just really happy that they were able to withstand it, and we executed some things really well down the stretch.”
Connecticut 82, San Diego State 52:
Stephon Castle had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies (34-3) and the defending NCAA champions advanced to the Elite Eight with another double-digit victory in a rematch of last year’s title game in Boston.
A year after cruising to their fifth national championship — winning their six NCAA tournament games by an average of almost 20 points — the Huskies followed up blowouts last weekend with their ninth straight double-digit March Madness victory. They have won by 39, 17 and 30 points in this tournament.
“We suck at winning close games,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “You’ve got to go with the alternative.”
Jaedon LeDee scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half for the fifth-seeded Aztecs.
Illinois 72, Iowa State 69:
Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 29 points and the Illini beat the Cyclones to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005.
Shannon had 20 points in the first half for the thirdseeded Illini (29-8), who never trailed. He broke away for a dunk in the closing seconds and later hit two free throws to help Illinois finally put away the second-seeded Cyclones (29-8).
“When you face the No. 1 defense, you know they’re not No. 1 because they’re soft or they lack effort,” Illini coach Brad Underwood said. “I also knew they’d come out and punch or counterpunch, and they did that.”