GLENDALE, Ariz. – Alabama’s historic run in the NCAA Tournament ended Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide, a 4-seed, lost to top overall seed UConn, 86-72, in the program’s first-ever Final Four appearance at State Farm Stadium. Alabama’s 2023-24 season ended with a 25-12 record and one game short of Monday night’s national championship game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Grant Nelson opened the scoring with a three, but UConn answered with seven straight points to take an early lead. Rylan Griffen stopped the bleeding with Alabama’s second triple – it would go on to make 8-of-11 before intermission. A second three from Griffen – and the Tide’s fifth of the first half – gave the 4 seed its largest lead to that point, 23-18, at the 11:09 mark. That lead evaporated behind a 10-2 run by the Huskies, and after a Latrell Wrightsell trey with 4:58 left in the first half, UConn was in front for the rest of the half. Mark Sears made a layup just before the buzzer to cut the No. 1 overall seed’s lead to 44-40 at halftime.
The Huskies scored the first four points out of the break, but an Aaron Estrada three ignited a 7-0 run for the Crimson Tide. That became a trend in the second half. First Alabama scored seven straight, followed by seven in a row from UConn, another 7-0 stretch for the Tide and then an 11-2 streak by the Huskies to tie their largest lead of the night, 67-58. After Sears made a layup to cut it to seven, Alabama didn’t score another field goal for more than five minutes before the team’s leading scorer knocked down a deep, much-needed three to trim the lead to 76-68, but that was as close as the Tide came to a comeback.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Sears led Alabama with 24 points, scoring 20 or more for the 26th time this season – already a single-season school record. Two other seniors joined him in double figures as Nelson tallied a double-double (19 points, 15 rebounds), while Estrada added 13 points. UConn guard Stephon Castle paced the Huskies with 21 points, but all five of starters scored in double figures. Center Donovan Clingan scored 18 points and had four of the Huskies’ eight blocks.
KEY STATS
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QUOTE FROM OATS
** This section will be updated shortly after Nate Oats’ postgame press conference.*
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