The Alabama Crimson Tide tried their best against University, but fell short 86-72 in Saturday night’s Final Four matchup.
All things considered, it was one of Alabama’s best seasons, and it ended with the program’s first Final Four appearance. The team advanced to the Sweet 16 last season, but failed to advance past the first round in 2022.
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Nate Oats of the Alabama Crimson Tide speaks during a press conference during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinals at State Farm Stadium on April 6, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Alissa Rubin/NCAA Photo via Getty Images)
Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats lamented one aspect of the loss to the defending national champions — they didn’t make as many 3-pointers as he would have liked. Alabama took 23 3-pointers, but only made 11 of them. In the early game against North Carolina, he made 26 3-point shots and won.
“We knew they were going to try to get us out, put our bodies on the line,” Oats said of the Huskies, via ESPN. “Yeah, 23 isn’t ideal, I’d rather push it into the 3s and into the mid-30s, but they were obviously going to try to throw us off the line.
“When they got us off the line, we drove it. They did a good job of forcing us to take more non-rim two shots than we probably have all year… Almost a third of the shots ended up non-rimmed in 2 seconds. That’s not how we normally play.”
Nate Oats of the Alabama Crimson Tide speaks with his team during the inaugural NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four against the Connecticut Huskies at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on April 6, 2024. (Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photo via Getty Images)
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Alabama trailed by just four points at halftime, but the lead widened toward the end of the game and they were unable to get back into the game.
Mark Sears led the team with 24 points.
UConn shot a ridiculous 50% from the field. Each player in the starting lineup scored double figures.
April 6, 2024: Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley and Alabama head coach Nate Oats meet after the Huskies defeated the Crimson Tide 86-72 in a Final Four game. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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UW will play Purdue in the national title game on Monday.
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