Alabama Shatters NCAA Tournament Shooting Records in Sweet 16 Win Over BYU

NEWARK, N.J. –– 2-seed Alabama men's basketball took down 6-seed BYU 113-88 in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 on Thursday night to advance to back-to-back Elite Eights for the first time in program history.

The Crimson Tide broke NCAA Tournament records for threes made (25) and threes attempted (51). Alabama also set those marks with over seven minutes remaining in the second half (previous record was 21 made threes and 43 attempted) and just kept firing.

The main story coming into this game was the fact that these two teams are among the best in the country offensively. Of course, questions arose about whether the winner of this game would be more in charge defensively, or if simply they came out victorious in the race to 100.

Alabama led 51-40 going into halftime, so that pretty much answered the debate in that offense would dictate this one. Nevertheless, the scoring methods between these two juggernauts couldn't be more different as the Crimson Tide finished the first half 12 of 27 (44.4 percent) from downtown, while the Cougars attacked the interior with 28 points in the paint.

Alabama guard and Consensus First Team All-American Mark Sears scored 17 points in the first half on a 5-for-7 clip from behind the arc. He had been really struggling from long range prior to Thursday night as he went 2 of 21 combining the last four games.

This only continued to start the second half as after an 8-0 run by the Crimson Tide with over 16 minutes remaining in regulation, Sears was up to 25 points. Up 63-47, it was time for Alabama to put its defense on display, as head coach Nate Oats was very adamant about this side of the ball during Wednesday's press conference.

However, when Alabama went on a cold spell, the Tide had difficulty defending without fouling as BYU put the game within single digits multiple times before the midway point of the second half and the Cougars were already in the bonus. Alabama needed more than just Sears to answer the call in the second half and fellow guard Aden Holloway was the one to do so, as he disrupted BYU's momentum multiple times.

From there, things just got silly from long range. Sears and Holloway could not miss. Before we knew it, Alabama was up 97-76 and Sears (31 points) and Holloway (21) combined for 52 points with over seven minutes remaining. Sears' 10 threes is tied for the second-most in a game in NCAA Tournament history.

"So proud of our guys," Oats said during the postgame press conference. "We're in the Elite 8 for the third time in school history and back to back. Sears has been in the middle of it. These two guys (Holloway and Chris Youngblood) came to play with him, and they're a unbelievable backcourt together. I thought Labaron [Philon] did a good job moving the ball tonight, too. He went 2 of 3 himself. He ended up with six assists. I thought everybody played well in their roles tonight."

From there, Alabama continued to fire away to set the aforementioned NCAA Tournament shooting records. Meanwhile, BYU cooled down a bit as there was absolutely zero momentum swinging in the Cougars' favor. Crimson Tide guard Chris Youngblood was a big reason for this as he finished the game with 19 points on 5-for-11 from deep.

As previously stated, the Crimson Tide has now advanced to back-to-back Elite Eights for the first time in program history. The major moment occurred on the six-year anniversary of Nate Oats' arriving in Tuscaloosa, Ala. as Alabama's next head coach.

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