Alabama’s 89-87 win over North Carolina in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.
It drew quite the reaction. March Madness indeed. Former players like Mark Ingram and Roman Harper chimed in. Even former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young was in attendance.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl threw a little shade at Charles Barkley, who predicted an Alabama win, then joked about saying Roll Tide before breaking down the difference in the game.
Grant Nelson became a folk hero on Thursday night, 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.
It came down to the end. Nelson converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds remaining,
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 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.
Check out the reaction below: