Alabama wins thriller vs. North Carolina to reach first Elite Eight in 20 years

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LOS ANGELES — For an entire college basketball season, Alabama’s offense provided the punch and its defense the punch lines. And now the best of both has the Crimson Tide one win from their first Final Four appearance.

A thrill ride of an 89-87 upset over No. 1 seed North Carolina on Thursday night featured the trademark offensive pop but also mixed in a resolute enough defensive effort that limited the Tar Heels to catastrophic 25.6 percent shooting from the field in the second half. The result? No. 4 seed Alabama facing No. 6 seed Clemson on Saturday night for a trip to Glendale, Ariz., next week.

“We’ve been criticized all year for our defense, and probably rightfully so,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “Our defense showed up in the second half.”

Alabama’s stars ultimately carried the night. Forward Grant Nelson recovered from a miserable stretch in the first and second rounds in Spokane, Wash., to score 24 points. “Grant showed up,” Oats said. While guards Rylan Griffen and Aaron Estrada added 19 points each, it was All-SEC guard Mark Sears (18 points) who had the ball in hand to make the play that put Alabama ahead for good.

After North Carolina’s Jae’Lyn Withers took and missed an ill-advised 3-pointer with a minute left and a one-point lead, Sears worked through multiple ball screens at the other end and found Nelson inexplicably open at the rim, where Nelson flipped in a layup while getting fouled, and the ensuing three-point play made it an 87-85 Crimson Tide lead.

GRANT NELSON IS ON FIRE 🔥

BAMA LEADS AGAIN.@AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/DqRZvQRA1m

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2024

Then the longest night of R.J. Davis’ basketball life got longer. The senior All-American for North Carolina was simply brutal overall — 4-of-20 shooting from the floor, 0-of-9 from 3-point range, the first time all season he hadn’t made a 3 in a game — and yet Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis put the game and the season in the senior guard’s hands out of a timeout.

R.J. Davis’ first off-balance shot was swatted out of bounds by Nelson. The second didn’t catch any part of the rim, resulting in a shot-clock violation with 8.6 seconds left. Nelson hit two free throws at the other end to create a four-point lead. After North Carolina’s Armando Bacot scored with less than two seconds on the clock, Alabama was able to inbound to Nelson, who missed two free throws with 0.9 seconds left — but then batted down a desperation heave from the Tar Heels’ Harrison Ingram as time expired.

NELSON WITH THE BLOCK!

GAME OVER 😤@AlabamaMBB HEADED TO ELITE 8 FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2004 pic.twitter.com/XKe6tBhqvs

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 29, 2024

And now comes a rematch hardly anyone expected: Clemson versus Alabama for the second time this season, with the first meeting won by the Tigers 85-77 on Nov. 28, 2023, in Tuscaloosa during the ACC/SEC Challenge.

The first half was about what everyone would have expected, or at least paid good money to see: Offense. Lots of offense. The teams combined for 17 made 3s before halftime alone, with three players on each roster reaching double-figures in scoring before the break. Exactly 100 combined points were scored.

A delight, especially considering the Clemson-Arizona slog that preceded it.

And then the game caught whatever that game had.

North Carolina missed 15 of its first 17 shots to start the second half, and it didn’t get any better. Fourteen offensive rebounds in the second half helped keep the Tar Heels relevant, especially since Alabama didn’t cool off much. Nelson drove the offense with 19 second-half points and, in the end, was in position to make the plays that sealed a chance to make some history on Saturday.

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(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)