CLEVELAND, Ohio — Alabama basketball’s star player and coach simply refuse to lose in Cleveland.
The No. 2-seeded Crimson Tide advanced to their third straight Sweet 16 (and fourth in five years) on Sunday with a 80-66 win over No. 7 Saint Mary’s at Rocket Arena.
The win also improved the Cleveland career records of Bama’s head coach Nate Oats and its star point guard Mark Sears.
Thanks to backgrounds in the Mid-American Conference, Oats and Sears can now boast 11-1 and 6-1 records in Cleveland, respectively, after this weekend. On Friday, ‘Bama kept those streaks going, sneaking away with a 90-81 victory over No. 15 seed Robert Morris.
Oats’ prior coaching stop was at the University at Buffalo, while Sears transferred to Alabama from Ohio University for the 2022-23 season. The MAC is the official host for these opening and second round games in Cleveland, and it’s logo is emblazoned on the baseline of the court.
“Mark is 6-1 now Cleveland and I’m 11-1? I’ve been here a few more times than Mark so I’ve had more opportunities than he had,” Oats said after the win. “Whether it’s being in Cleveland or what, he’s made three straight Sweet 16s as a player, so whether they sent us to Spokane or Birmingham, he’s now 6-0 in the first week of the NCAA Tournament.
“Cleveland has been good to him. So has Birmingham, so has Spokane. Let’s hope we can head to Newark and play as well as we did in LA last year because that was good for us, as well.”
Sears, Alabama’s leading scorer, got going late. In the first half, he was held to only four first-half points, one assist and zero trips to the foul line. He played only 26 minutes in the game, down from his usual 30-plus, due to picking up two early fouls.
He finished with 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting, and added three assists.
“Oh, it feels really, really good to keep the winning streak going,” Sears said after the game. “Especially us being MAC guys and seeing that MAC logo (on the court), it is a good feeling. Especially when you come to Cleveland.”
Two highlights that helped Alabama keep their distance in the second half were when Sears found Clifford Omoruyi (10 points, 11 rebounds) for two thunderous alley-oop dunks, the first of which gave Alabama its largest lead of the night at 64-50.
Six total players finished with double digit scoring for Albama: Grant Nelson (12 points, eight rebounds, two assists); Chris Youngblood (13); Mouhamed Dioubate (10); and Aden Holloway (12).
The story of Alabama’s season has been its pace, and it outscored the Gaels 9-0 in fastbreak points. But Sunday, the difference maker was the early grunt work that gave the Tide a 42-29 lead at the break.
Despite Saint Mary’s size (the shortest person in their starting lineup is guard Jordan Ross at 6-3) Bama had the early edge on the glass, 26-16. The Tide also hung around the Gaels on the offensive glass (7-6 in SMC’s favor).
While Saint Mary’s came back in the second half, Bama still finished with a 41-36 rebounding advantage, doing just enough to stave off a Gaels comeback.
Saint Mary’s had a 15-8 advantage for the game in offensive rebounds, but it managed only nine second-chance points while Alabama had 10.
The Tide was sloppy early, turning the ball over eight times in the first 20 minutes. But but much like with the offensive boards, Saint Mary’s was unable to do much with the extra chances. They turned those giveaways into only eight first-half points.
Bama evened the playing field in that regard in the second half, scoring six points off of six Saint Mary’s turnovers. The Tide turned the ball over three more times, but it netted no additional points for the Gaels.
“We didn’t score the ball — some of it has to do with them,” said Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett. “They are long and they’re big around the basket.”
And while Alabama struggled to get going from 3 (7 of 17), Saint Mary’s was even worst (3 of 14) and didn’t make their first deep shot until there was only 7:31 left to play.
Sears didn’t want to waste too much time reflecting after the game (they have a regional semifinal matchup to prepare for, after all), but performing so well in this building served as another reminder of how far he’s come over the last three years of his college career since transferring.
“I remember back in the MAC we were just happy to make it to the tournament and we really wasn’t thinking about winning the whole thing,” Sears said. “We were just happy to be in the tournament. But now with us being Alabama, our mindset is to win the whole thing. Yes, that’s the difference. It feels good to be a part of a program that has that mentality.”
Up next
Alabama will take on No. 6 BYU in the Sweet 16 in Newark at the Prudential Center. Sweet 16 games begin on Thursday, while Elite Eight games begin Saturday.
The Cougars defeated the No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers 91-89 on Saturday night to advance.
