The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball program is headed back to the Elite Eight after a historic 113-88 victory over the BYU Cougars. During the course of the game, numerous program and NCAA Tournament records were set.
Alabama’s 25 successful three point shots broke the program record of 23 – which it first set against LSU back in 2021. It was not just a record for the program, however, it was a record in the NCAA Tournament which had stood for nearly 40 years.
Back in 1990, Loyola-Marymount made 21 threes against Michigan in the second round in a victory where they scored a ridiculous 149 points as a team.
Even with just 113 points however, the Tide shattered the record of deep balls, scoring 75 points from deep alone.
Following several cold shooting games down the stretch of the season, it was Mark Sears playing one of the best games of his career and tying an Alabama program record with 10 made three-pointers himself, something John Petty did twice.
MARK SEARS HITS HIS 10TH TRIPLE 😱#MarchMadness @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/pK7Pt3DHWJ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 28, 2025
Sears’ 10 threes fell just shy of the NCAA Tournament record of 11 set by Jeff Fryer for Loyola-Marymount in that same game game against Michigan back in 1990.
With eight assists to go along with his 34 points, Sears factored in for 56 – nearly half – of the Tide’s points on the night as a whole.
Sears was not the only Tide star to have a big night either with Aden Holloway coming off the bench to hit six threes and score 23 points and Chris Youngblood scoring 19 himself on five from deep as well:
Alabama CANNOT MISS 🤯#MarchMadness @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/2UXpqiPtC7
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 28, 2025
BAMA CANNOT STOP MAKING THREES! pic.twitter.com/aUzJhbpGhI
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 28, 2025
For head coach Nate Oats, it was a historic night as well as he broke Wimp Sanderson’s record for most NCAA Tournament wins for a coach in program history.
It’s also the first time in history Alabama has played in back-to-back Elite Eights and will be just the third time the program ever has after playing in the Final Four last season.
The challenge facing the Tide in order to return to the biggest stage in the sport however is now immense in a Saturday night date with the Duke Blue Devils, who entered the tournament as one of the favorites to win it all and have looked absolutely dominant thus far.
Generational Duke superstar Cooper Flagg had another 30-point effort in the Blue Devils’ win over Arizona last night to earn the right to face Alabama.
Things tip off at 7:49 p.m. CST on Saturday night on TBS.
