BamaCentral Courtside after Alabama Beats Texas Tech in Round of 32

Final thoughts and takeaways from inside Benchmark International Arena in Tampa as the Crimson Tide dominated the Red Raiders to advance to its fourth straight Sweet 16.

Mar 22, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide forward Taylor Bol Bowen (7) dunks the ball past Texas Tech Red Raiders forward Luke Bamgboye (9) in the second half during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

TAMPA, Fla.––Alabama was without its second-leading scorer on the season, and its leading scorer finished below double-digit scoring for just the second time in 31 games, yet the No. 4 Crimson Tide still manhandled No. 5 Texas Tech, 90-65, to advance out of Tampa to the Sweet 16 on Sunday night.

The Crimson Tide made 19 3-pointers, which is third most all time in NCAA tournament history. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. led the way with 24 points, including six makes from beyond the arc.

"I mean, you know, you never want to stop playing," Wrightsell said. "You don't want it to end. I think it's self-explanatory. You go out there and just fight to move on, and that's what we did. We came out there with energy and effort that wasn't matched today. And we played for each other. We played to move on, but we also played one possession at a time. We didn't take it for granted."

Alabama put together one of its best defensive performances of the season. The Crimson Tide out-rebounded Texas Tech by 12 and held the Red Raiders 34 percent from the floor and 16 percent from 3.

Alabama has a very challenging game ahead against No. 1 Michigan, but Crimson Tide head coach is starting to see shades of his Final Four from two years ago.

"When we made the Final Four and our defense wasn't great that year, we finally convinced them, if we guard at the level we should have been guarding all year, we can beat anybody in the country," Oats said. "And we win four games, and I think if you go look at the statistics on those four games that we won in the tournament, the defense was ranked significantly higher than it was all year.

"If we guard like we did tonight, particularly at the point of attack, with our guards, we can compete with anybody in the country. Now, obviously Michigan's looming, and they've got ridiculous size all over the place. We're going to have to rebound. Our bigs are going to have to bring it."

BamaCentral will be following the team to Chicago later in the week. Thank you so much for following all of our coverage from Tampa.

Watch the above video as Alabama Crimson Tide on SI writers Joe Gaither and Katie Windham break down Alabama's impressive performance in the Round of 32 to beat Texas Tech 90-65 and keep dancing in the NCAA Tournament.

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