After Alabama basketball hit just five 3-pointers during an opening-round scare against Iona in Hinkle Fieldhouse over the weekend, Nate Oats suggested a change of venue might be beneficial for his team. It turns out the head coach was right.
Monday night’s game inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse yielded much better results for No. 2 seed Alabama as it caught fire to cruise past No. 10 Maryland 96-77 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Alabama (26-6) shot 53 percent from the floor, including 16 of 33 (48 percent) from beyond the arc on the night. Maryland (17-14) also shot 53 percent from the floor and was 10 of 27 (37 percent) from 3. However, the Tide dominated the boards 40-19 which led to a 23-6 advantage in second-chance points.
Alabama advances to the Sweet 16 where it will face No. 11 seed UCLA on Sunday at 6:15 p.m. CT inside Hinkle Fieldhouse. The game will be televised nationally on TBS.
UCLA beat No. 14 seed Abilene Christian to advance to the Sweet 16 earlier in the day. Alabama last advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2004 when it eventually progressed to the Elite Eight, marking its deepest run in the tournament.
"I'm really happy for our guys," Oats said. "It's been a long time since they played in the Sweet 16. These guys have really bought into playing the right way. Defensively we've been one of the top five teams in the country all year, but the offense was bound to come."
Jaden Shackelford led the Tide with 21 points, while John Petty Jr. resurrected his shooting touch to finish with 20 points. Petty came into the game in the midst of a three-game slump that saw him shoot a combined 8 of 34, including 4 of 16 from beyond the arc. Monday night, the senior shot 7 of 15 while knocking down 4 of 9 shots from deep.
"It was amazing," Shackelford said of Petty's resurgence. "It's good to see the work pay off. JP's in the gym all the time, so it feels good to see him knock down some shots in this game. It was big for us. It was big on our run. It was good to see the shots fall for him. I'm super proud of him."
Jahvon Quinerly recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 assists to lead an inspired effort from Alabama’s bench. Alex Reese had 13 points with three 3s while Joshua Primo returned from his knee injury to chip in 10 points. Alabama’s bench outscored Maryland’s 39-9 on the night.
“That’s huge for JQ,” Shackelford said. “He’s a super unselfish guy. We all know he can score the ball, but he’s a great facilitator, great distributor, so he found the open guys today and he also found his own rhythm. It was huge for us.”
After digging itself into an early deficit, things got a bit tense for the Tide as Herbert Jones picked up his second foul with 13 minutes left in the first half. With its star forward on the bench, the Tide’s reserves responded, going on a 19-4 run to take a 31-22 lead with 7:02 left in the half. Reese scored 8 points during that span, including two momentum-shifting 3s. The senior led the Tide with 11 points in the first half as Alabama took a 46-38 lead into the break.
“I thought Reese was great,” Oats said. “He’s been great both games. He shot 2 of 2 from 3 last game, 3 of 5 now. He’s 5 of 7 in the NCAA tournament. He’s showed up. … Reese steps up in some big moments. I think he’s stepping up in some big moments now.”
After taking control of the game late in the first half, Alabama wasted little time putting Maryland away in the second period. Spurred by Shackelford and Petty, the Tide used a 14-2 run to take a 65-42 lead with 15:02 remaining, burying any chance of a possible Maryland comeback.
“It’s surreal to be honest,” Shackelford said. “We dreamt we’d be on this stage early on in the year so just to see the work on display, it’s surreal. Our bench is great. Our fans are great and much love to them. All of that played into the electricity on the court for us.”
Alabama’s hot night from deep saw it break the school’s single-season record for made threes. The Tide now has 341 makes from beyond the arc, passing the previous record of 334 set last year.
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