Tide shake off early woes, rally for 1st Final Four

LOS ANGELES — Alabama head coach Nate Oats said earlier this week that he credits legendary, now-retired Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban for his mantra of always looking to the next play, the next game in order to not get caught up in the success or failure of the present.

But after an 89-82 win over no. 6 Clemson on Saturday night in the Elite Eight, what’s “next” for Alabama is now uncharted territory — its first appearance in the Final Four.

Down 13 points in the first half, the Tide didn’t flinch. Instead, they stuck to their game plan of shooting their way out of trouble and relied on senior guard Mark Sears — the program’s single-season record-holder in scoring — to score 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, including six 3-pointers.

“A lot of people doubted us,” Oats said after receiving the West regional championship trophy. “These guys showed up. They believed.”

All tournament long, the Tigers have made a name for themselves with quick starts. On Saturday, they did it once again, racing out to a 26-13 lead in the first 12 minutes, thanks to 14 points in the paint, while their defense limited Alabama to 1-of-13 from beyond the arc. At one point, the Tide didn’t score for nearly four minutes of play.

For the better part of the first half, one of the nation’s best offenses was stifled, but it wouldn’t be for long. Once a couple of 3-pointers started falling for Alabama, the rhythm returned to its attack, and Clemson’s 13-point lead evaporated after a 22-6 run gave the Tide a three-point lead at halftime.

Clemson didn’t go away easily. Early in the second half, the Tigers took the lead for a split second before a 3-pointer by Sears gave it back to Alabama, which didn’t relinquish it the rest of the way. Saturday’s game was ultimately decided on 3-point success. After their frigid start from beyond the arc, Alabama didn’t stop shooting and proceeded to make 10 of its next 17 3s. The Tide finished the game shooting over 40 percent from deep.

The Tide stuck to their offensive scheme, even in the face of a team that attempted to beat them with a different style of basketball. Oats’ team scored 26 points in the paint, 15 points from the free throw line and 48 points on 16 3-pointers. In other words, none of their points came in the midrange.

Even when Clemson was forced to play Alabama’s style of game and start shooting more 3s, it wasn’t enough. With just under eight minutes left in the second half, Clemson’s Joseph Girard III was able to make 3s on back-to-back possessions. The only problem? Alabama matched him on the other end with 3s on three consecutive possessions to build a nine-point lead with just over six minutes left.

With the Tigers making only eight of their 25 three-point attempts, the math was in the Tide’s favor, and over the course of 40 minutes that proved to be the deciding factor in punching Alabama’s ticket to the next round.

In the face of a historic breakthrough for the program, Oats may continue to heed Saban’s advice and look to what’s next. But the Final Four berth is a proper crowning achievement for a coach who has won eight tournament games the past four seasons — one more than the program won over the previous 26.

Extending history will not be easy. What awaits in the Final Four is Alabama’s toughest task yet: a matchup with the tournament’s top overall seed and defending champion, UConn.