In Tampa nightcap, Alabama cruises to 5th Sweet 16 under Nate Oats
· Yahoo Sports
The final spot in the Sweet 16 was decided by way of Alabama annihilation.
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In the aftermath of No. 9 Iowa’s exhilarating upset of the defending champion Florida Gators, Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide (25-9) cruised to a 90-65victory over Texas Tech on Sunday night, providing plenty incentive for the majority of fans at Benchmark International Arena to head for the exits well before the final buzzer.
For the Alabama fans that stayed, the second half was more celebration than competition. The No. 4 Crimson Tide took a 24-point lead into the half and never came close to surrendering it.
Both teams reached the Round of 32 under fairly comparable circumstances. They were tested by mid-major challengers in the Round of 64 before dispatching them comfortably, and entered the game without crucial starters.
No. 5 Texas Tech (23-11) lost first-team All-American JT Toppin in mid-February to an ACL injury, and Alabama’s second-leading scorer, Aden Holloway, was suspended ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
Their respective opening wins Friday were first steps toward quelling concerns about their postseason ceilings with key contributors, but Alabama was resoundingly the better team Sunday night.
Even without Holloway, the Crimson Tide flexed the strength of their program under Oats, who has led Alabama to four consecutive Sweet 16 appearances (five total) and has 13 NCAA wins with the Tide, the most in the SEC during that span.
Graduate guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. sparked Alabama offensively, finishing with 24 points, most of which came from his six 3-pointers.
Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama’s leading scorer, had only nine points on 2-of-12 shooting.
After an offensive explosion against Akron, the Red Raiders struggled to score all game. They shot 34% from the field and 16% from three. Only threeplayers reached double figures, and most did so inefficiently. LeJuan Watts, a key part of Texas Tech’s win on Friday, scored 16points, but did so on 5-14 shooting. First-year guard Jaylen Petty, who had 24 points against Akron, finished his first NCAA campaign with a 3-12 shooting night.
Alabama’s wire-to-wire victory sets up a matchup with No. 1 Michigan (33-3) on Friday in Chicago.
This story will be updated.
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