LOS ANGELES — Grant Nelson converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds remaining, and Alabama beat top-seeded North Carolina 89-87 on Thursday night to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history.
Nelson finished with a season-high 24 points, 19 in the second half, and he blocked RJ Davis‘ attempt at a tying layup after giving Alabama the lead. Rylan Griffen added 19 points, tying his career high with five 3-pointers, and Aaron Estrada also scored 19 for the fourth-seeded Crimson Tide (24-11).
The Tide face sixth-seeded Clemson on Saturday for a berth in the Final Four. The Tigers (24-11) defeated second-seeded Arizona 77-72 in the first semifinal at Crypto.com Arena.
After Nelson blocked Davis’ shot with 25 seconds left, Davis furiously dribbled around before missing a layup and the Tar Heels got called for a shot-clock violation with 8 seconds left. They were forced to foul, sending Nelson to the line. He calmly made both for an 89-85 lead.
Armando Bacot scored inside with 1 second left, leaving North Carolina trailing 89-87. The Tar Heels fouled Nelson again with 0.9 seconds left. He missed both and time expired on the blueblood Tar Heels, who own six national championships.
Bacot finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for UNC (29-8). Cormac Ryan had 17 points and made five 3-pointers and Davis had 16 points.