Four-seed Alabama men’s basketball blew by 5-seed Texas Tech 90-65 in Tampa on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament, clinching its fourth straight trip to the Sweet 16.
“It was a fun game to be a part of,” head coach Nate Oats said postgame. “Texas Tech’s a very good team and they’ve done a lot to win the amount of games they’ve won.”
Four Crimson Tide players scored double figures, including guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who led all scorers with 24 points on 7/10 shooting and 6/9 from deep. Alabama produced one of its strongest defensive efforts this season, dominating the glass 47-35 and forcing 10 turnovers from the Red Raiders.
“If we guard like we did tonight — particularly at the point of attack — with our guards, we can compete with anybody in the country,” Oats said.
Neither team opened the contest on a heater, as the Crimson Tide clung to an early 10-7 advantage. Alabama began the game 4/11, but stout defense kept the Red Raiders to a poor 3/10.
Alabama’s offense caught fire midway through the opening 20, as it imposed will on the glass and knocked down shots from deep. An early 13-7 rebounding advantage opened up second-chance opportunities, which the Crimson Tide capitalized on, opening a double-digit lead.
The lead continued to grow after back-to-back possessions with a make from deep, prompting Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland to call a timeout. Alabama continued to dominate the glass 24-8 after the Red Raiders’ timeout, which included 12 offensive rebounds.
The Crimson Tide continued to find success defensively, forcing six first-half turnovers from Texas Tech. Eight different Crimson Tide players scored, and seven of them knocked down a triple, as Alabama entered halftime in Tampa with a 24-point cushion.
Texas Tech showed life to begin the second half, quickly slashing Alabama’s lead to 19 points. Triples continued to fall for the Crimson Tide, as they did in the opening half, which extended the lead to 23 points with 15:32 to go.
Despite another push from the Red Raiders that cut the advantage to 18, Alabama held strong and mustered an 18-4 run to blow the game wide open. Wrightsell’s triple in the corner — his sixth made 3-pointer of the night — extended the lead to 31 points with 7:45 to play.
“We came out there with an energy and effort that wasn’t matched today, and we played for each other,” Wrightsell said. “We played to move on, but we also played one possession at a time. We didn’t take it for granted.”
The game slowed down as the Crimson Tide subbed out its starters, which allowed walk-on guard Preston Murphy Jr. and walk-on forward Jacob Martin to experience their second taste of in-game action in the Big Dance.
Alabama dribbled it out, punching its ticket to Chicago for a date with 1-seed Michigan in the Midwest Regional semifinal on Friday. Tipoff is set for 6:35 p.m. CT, and the game can be seen on TBS.
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