By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer
NEWARK, N.J. — Alabama broke the 35-year-old March Madness record for 3-pointers with 25 and Mark Sears scored 30 of his 34 points from behind the arc, a relentless long-range spree that ushered the second-seeded Crimson Tide past BYU, 113-88, on Thursday night in an NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal.
Alabama reached the Elite Eight in consecutive years for the first time in program history.
The Crimson Tide made 25 of 51 3-point attempts to break the record of 21 set by Loyola Marymount in a second-round game against Michigan in 1990. That Lions team starred Hank Gathers before his fatal collapse on the court and was coached by Paul Westhead, whose team cracked 100 points in all but three games that season.
Sears, a first-team All-America guard, hit the record-breaking 22nd 3-pointer late in the game to make it 97-66 and received a standing ovation from the Alabama fans when he checked out with 10 3-pointers and more than four minutes left to play.
Sears and the Crimson Tide (28-8) showed they are no March fluke under Coach Nate Oats. Riding a wave of long balls, Alabama set itself up for a date against top-seeded Duke for a shot at the Final Four.
Richie Saunders scored 25 points to lead sixth-seeded BYU (26-10), which hasn’t played in a regional final since 1981.
Sears’ 10 3-pointers were one short of the record set by Loyola Marymount’s Jeff Fryer (Corona del Mar High) in that memorable 149-115 victory over Michigan. Sears was in a long-range slump entering the game. He went just 1 for 9 over the first weekend of the tournament and was just 3 for 25 over his last five games. That dumped his success rate to just 33% on the season – a year after he made 44%.
He missed only seven times against BYU.
“I was just in a zone,” Sears said. “Once I seen the first 3 fell in, I felt the basket was as big as an ocean. And every time I shot, I felt like it was going in. Just lost myself in the game and just let everything else happen.”
Consider the slump busted.
“I told Mark he’s playing chess, not checkers,” Oats said. “He just kind of set everybody up, thinking he was in a slump and he’s going to come out and shoot.”
The Crimson Tide made their first Final Four appearance in school history last season, when they lost to eventual national champion Connecticut.
Alabama loved the 3-pointer this season, averaging 28 attempts per game. Against BYU, Sears and the Crimson Tide feasted on the long ball.
Sears hit five in the first half, camping out behind the arc without much of a hand in his face. Sears and Chris Youngblood hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 38-30 lead and repeated the feat minutes later for a 44-34 advantage. BYU’s Egor Demin followed with an airball and Alabama could smell crimson in the water.
Alabama – the highest-scoring team in the country at 90.8 points per game – attempted 15 2-pointers and made 10 of them.
“We’ve been working all week to prepare to get our shot right,” Sears said.
Sears raised his teammates out of their seats and into a frenzy when another 3-pointer early in the second half opened a 63-47 lead that sent the shaken Cougars into a timeout. The deep, up-tempo Crimson Tide let Sears bury 3 after 3 after 3 with the Elite Eight in sight.
Alabama’s previous 3-point record was 23 against LSU in 2021. John Petty Jr., twice hit 10 3-pointers, the latter time against Samford in 2019.
TAKEAWAYS
Alabama continued the SEC’s run in the tournament and coasted in its third straight Sweet 16 appearance. Holloway made six 3s and Youngblood had five. Collectively, Alabama shot 53% from the floor and it also made 18 of 21 free throws.
The shots – and now, free tater tots – dried up for BYU. Saunders, a descendant of the man who invented tater tots, had fueled BYU’s run to the Sweet 16.
BYU was a bust trying match Alabama long range. The Cougars missed 12 of 13 3-point attempts in the first half.
“We felt like it was hard for them to sustain that,” Coach Kevin Young said. “You’re trying everything and nothing seemed to work.”
The Cougars gamely pulled within striking distance only to get socked down by, yes, another Alabama 3-pointer. Demin hit a long ball that pulled BYU within 63-55, only for Aden Holloway to connect again behind the arc for the Tide.
“An open 3 is kind of a layup, so we’re happy with 77% of our shots coming from 3 today,” Holloway said.
AP National Writer Eddie Pells contributed to this report.
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