LOS ANGELES — Every time Clemson tried to close the lead, Alabama hit a 3-pointer. Time and time again, it happened in such quick succession that the Crimson Tide looked like a video game.
Mark Sears made seven 3-pointers and Alabama bounced back from an early long-range woes by making 16 3-pointers to defeat Clemson 89-82 on Saturday night. , led Nagare to the Final Four for the first time.
“Man, I’m so emotional,” said Sears, the only Alabama native on the team. She said, “Being from Alabama, it’s great to be able to do that with these guys.”
The Tide (25-11) will play defending national champion UConn next Saturday in Glendale, Arizona. The University of Alabama defeated top-seeded University of North Carolina and advanced to the Elite 8.
Sears was one 3-pointer shy of his career-high. He finished with 23 points and was named the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Tournament West.
Freshman Jalyn Stephenson airballed a few threes in the first half, but Alabama missed 12 of its first 13 from long range. He ended up making a career-high five threes and scoring 19 points off the bench.
“We can’t win this game without him,” Sears said. “Jalin went 3-for-3 and kept us in this ballgame. He was huge.”
Added Tide coach Nate Oats: “Jarin grew tonight.”
The Tide celebrated while buckets of red and white confetti rained down on them, wearing red T-shirts with the entirely appropriate slogan “Net Worth.” Oats attended the postgame press conference with a net around his neck.
Clemson (24-12) was also seeking its first Final Four appearance in a matchup of schools known for having national championship football teams.
Joseph Girard III led Clemson with 19 points, and Ian Schiefferin had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Tide made an avalanche of 10 threes in the second half to pull away from the Tigers. Sears hit a 3, turned around and put his finger to his lips. After sinking the Tide’s eighth three in the final minutes of the first half, Sears playfully stuck out his tongue and nodded as he ran up to his court.
“I live for the moment. This is what March Madness is about,” Sears said. “When you’re a kid, you want to be in the moment. Today feels like a dream come true. Today, my dream definitely came true.”
Clemson allowed just 14 3-pointers in the first three games of March Madness.
“They get their threes up quick and never seem to miss,” Girard said.
The Tide was making shots before the Tigers moved back downcourt and set up a zone defense.
“There’s not a lot of teams that play like that,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.
The Tigers fought hard to catch up, making 8 of 26 3-point shots. While Sears put on a show, Girard, who struggled offensively in the district semifinals, hit back-to-back threes and P.J. Hall added another point to put Clemson ahead 68-62.
“They hit some big shots, but we just struggled to make the mistakes they needed,” Hall said. “Credit to them, they went out there and hit them. It was great basketball.”
Girard’s three points narrowed the gap to 76-73 for Clemson. But Nick Pringle scored eight straight points for the Tide and made 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch. He had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Sears dropped to the left of the key point and sank the Tide’s 10th three of the first half to take an 82-75 lead, hitting Alabama graduate and seven-time NBA champion Robert “Big Shot Bob” Hawley. It drew applause.
“What a basketball game. The shot-making was elite,” Brownell said. “Their performance in the second half was great, but for some reason we struggled to defend them.”
This is the second time in school history that the fourth-seeded Tide has made it to the Elite Eight. He lost to UConn in the 2004 regional finals.
The sixth-seeded Tigers defeated second-seeded Arizona in the regional semifinals to qualify for the Elite 8 for the second time in 44 years.
Clemson broke open with an early 16-4 run, including six consecutive runs by RJ Godfrey, to take a 26-13 lead.
Alabama responded to Clemson’s outburst with a 22-6 spurt that included 11 consecutive goals, ending the first half with a 35-32 lead. The Tide made five threes after missing 12 of 13 to start the game.
“We’re big, we’re strong, we’re tough, we’re smart, but we’re not that fast,” Brownell said. “That was a problem for us in the second half.”
