NEWARK, N.J. – The No. 2 seed Alabama men’s basketball broke the school, SEC and NCAA Tournament record by draining 25 three-pointers on its way to a 113-88 victory over No. 6 seed BYU in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night. With the victory, the Crimson Tide advances to a second consecutive Elite Eight for the first time in program history and third time overall.

First Team All-American Mark Sears was dominant throughout the contest, finishing with 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field, 10-of-16 from beyond the arc and eight assists. Combined with his scoring total and the 22 points that came of his eight dimes, Sears accounted for 56 of the Tide’s point total.

Sears was not the only weapon for Alabama (28-8), as Aden Holloway came off the bench to score 23 points on six three-pointers (6-of-13), while Chris Youngblood had 19 and five treys with Clifford Omoruyi adding 10 points.

The Cougars (26-10) were led by Richie Saunders’ 25 points and six rebounds to pace three players in double figures.

Gallery: (3-27-2025) 03/27/25 MBB NCAA Sweet Sixteen vs BYU

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments

“That was a fun game if you like offense. That was fun for the fans, I’m sure, at least for the Alabama fans. Listen, I’ve got to teach these guys some math. I told (Mark) Sears there’s a thing called regression to the mean. His last six games he was shooting 14 percent, 5-of-35. He’s not a 14 percent shooter, obviously. They had been going under ball screens just about every game we watched. I told both those guys, (Aden) Holloway and Sears, man, I hope they go under us because we’re going to reign them. So, we were in the gym last night, the night before. These guys show up for voluntary shooting every time it’s available to make sure that they’re ready to go, and that work pays off. We want to base our program on hard work. I am so proud of our guys. We’re in the Elite Eight for the third time in school history and back-to-back seasons. I thought everybody played well in their roles tonight.”

Team Stats

• In addition to setting records from beyond the arc, the Crimson Tide also set new school marks for most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game, most three-pointers attempted (51)
• Alabama’s Mark Sears (10-of-16), Aden Holloway (6-of-13) and Chris Youngblood (5-of-11) combined to knock down 21-of-40 (52.5 percent) from beyond the arc
• Alabama outscored BYU 75-18 from beyond the arc (25 made threes compared to six from BYU)
• The Tide finished with 27 assists on 35 made shots
• Sears finished with eight assists that resulted directly to 22 Alabama points, giving him 56 points he was responsible for on the night
• Chris Youngblood surpassed 2,000 career points on the night (2,010)
• Alabama went on to finish the night shooting 53 percent (35-of-66) from the field, 49 percent (25-of-51) from deep and 86 percent (18-of-21) from the charity stripe
• BYU shot 46 percent (33-of-72) from the floor, 20 percent (6-of-30) from beyond the arc and 80 percent (16-of-20) from the free throw line

First Half 

• The Tide used a 17-8 run that turned a 27-26 game at the 10:43 mark into a 44-34 Alabama lead with 5:54 remaining
• Mark Sears collected 17 points and five assists across the opening 20 minutes, combining to account for 30 of the team’s 51 points
• Alabama (12-of-27) was dominant from beyond the arc in the opening stanza, outscoring the Cougars 1-of-13) 36-3 from deep
• BYU controlled the paint, outscoring the Tide 28-8 on the inside
• The Tide finished with 14 assists on 17 made baskets

Second Half 

• It was another solid start to a half for the Tide, as UA went on an 8-0 run to stretch its lead to the largest of the game at 16 points, 63-47, with 16:48 remaining
• The Cougars did not go away and trimmed the lead to 68-61 at the 13:23 mark, however, the Tide responded with seven consecutive points to stretch the lead to 75-61 at the 11:58 mark
• BYU would not get any closer than 13 the remainder of the contest
• The Tide hit 13-of-24 three-pointers in the half with Sears (5), Holloway (4) and Youngblood (3) combining to knock down all but one of that total (Aiden Sherrell)

Up Next

• Alabama will take on the East Region’s No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils on Saturday
• Time and television network will be announced later Friday night