I will never get tired of typing that title. I am 32 years old and before Nate Oats, I have only experienced one Sweet 16 or deeper run in 2004. Nate Oats has done it now 3 times in the past 4 years. Incredible.
What a game this was. It was absolute street fight for the first half, and while the lack of calls was horrendous, I didn't mind it as much because there was still a nice flow to the game. In the second half, every possession ended in a foul for Grand Canyon and it was annoying. Alabama got called for a foul on 8 straight GCU possessions at one point in the 2nd half. This was a fight, similar to games against Tennessee, but thankfully these guys were far less talented. Alabama's depth and athleticism won in the end, as they dominated the offensive boards 12-6 in the second half.
Mark Sears is having one of the best NCAA Tournaments in Alabama history scoring 31 and now 26 in back to back games in the tournament. He has been incredible and the consistent star this team desperately needed. Mo Dioubate and Nick Pringle deserve the hard hat tonight as they played so hard and made winning plays in the end. Dioubate had two offensive rebounds late in the game that led to points, and the game sealing lay up with 1:30 left. Alabama held Grand Canyon scoreless for the final 4:05 of the game and outscored them 17-3 after GCU took a 58-55 lead with 6:03 left.\
They face #1 seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16 which will be a monstrous test facing RJ Davis and Armando Bacot. This is where Alabama misses having a guy like Charles Bediako to match up with guys like Bacot. He gave Bacot fits last year in the 4OT win in Maui. If Alabama can defend like they did tonight, but shoot how they typically do, then they can make it a very interesting game.
What a great stretch of Alabama basketball we are witnessing the past 4 years.