Alabama is Elite: Crimson Tide Upsets No. 1 North Carolina to Advance to Elite Eight
For the second time in program history, Alabama basketball is headed to the Elite Eight.
LOS ANGELES —With one exception in 2004, the Sweet 16 has been Alabama’s ceiling in the NCAA Tournament for decades. Earlier this week, Nate Oats acknowledged that despite his success with the Crimson Tide, he would need to get past that barrier.
No. 4 Alabama did just that Thursday night in Los Angeles, knocking off No. 1 North Carolina, 89-87 to advance to the second Elite Eight in program history.
"I told these guys at halftime it's not easy to win these games to get to an Elite Eight," Oats said after the game. "There's only been one in Alabama. They've had all kinds of pros and all kinds of really good teams. Wimp Sanderson was one of the better coaches in his era in the country. They were never able to make it.
"Gottfried made it to the Elite Eight when Pettway was on the team. And we heard about it forever because Pettway has got the only Elite Eight and now we have two. We're going to try to get the only Final Four."
North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis called a timeout after Alabama held a five-point lead with just under four minutes to go. His Tar Heels responded with an 8-0 run to go ahead by three points with 1:32 to go.
Instead of folding to the pressure in front of a majority UNC crowd, Alabama roared back on a 7-0 run of its own to pull ahead and put the game away in the final seconds.
Grant Nelson was huge for Alabama in the second half, finishing with 24 total points, 19 of which were in the second half. He also added 12 rebounds and five blocks.
"We've been working for this all season," Nelson said. "But this wasn't our end goal. It's good we got here. It's something at the school, we haven't done, or one other time. It's great. We're going to celebrate it a little bit and then move on, next game."
However, it wasn't just Nelson though for the Crimson Tide. Alabama has relied on Nelson, Mark Sears and Aaron Estrada all season long, and the trio shined on the biggest stage.
Sears scored 18 points and played all 40 minutes. Aaron Estrada had 19 points, four rebounds and three assists. Multiple times throughout the game, he was able to stop scoring droughts for the Crimson Tide by attacking the basket.
After giving up 54 points in the first half, Alabama's defense locked down in the second half, only allowing the Tar Heels to score 33 points after the break. Cormac Ryan made four 3-pointers in the first half, and Alabama limited him to one in the second half. Overall, the Tar Heels shot 38 percent from the floor.
"We smashed the game plan," Alabama forward Nick Pringle said after the game in an exuberant locker room. "Like I said in previous interviews, the coaches always have a good game plan. It's always a matter of fact of whether we're going to execute or not."
4-seed Alabama will face 6-seed Clemson in the Elite Eight on Saturday evening at approximately 7:49 CT on tbs/TruTV.
