re: Tide Hoops | 25-12 (13-5)

SWEET 16! Alabama Advances to Second Consecutive NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 with 72-61 Win over No. 12 Grand Canyon

Mark Sears recorded his first double-double of the season to lead the Crimson Tide to the Sweet 16 for the third time in the last four years and 10th time in program history

SPOKANE, Wash. – 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."