Alabama defeats BYU: advances to the Elite Eight

March 27, 2025 – NEWARK, N.J – The number two seeded University of Alabama men's basketball team thoroughly dominated BYU 113 to 88. The 25 point rout keeps Alabama's hopes of a Final Four appearance alive.

Big games are where bigtime talents rise to the top and Alabama Senior Guard Mark Sears had one of the best performances of his career on Thursday. Sears had 17 points in the first half alone on his way to a 34-point individual performance that included an incredible ten 3-point shots made.

Alabama as a team made 25 three-point shots – setting a new NCAA tournament record.

Sears 34 points, three rebounds, eight assists, three steals performance awed Tide fans and the national TV audience as well. Sears had looked at going to the NBA last year; but the NBA scouts were concerned that the 6 foot one inch Sears was too short to play consistently at the next level so he returned to Alabama to compete for a championship and work on a master's degree. Sears started his college career at Ohio University where he played from 2021 to 2022 before transferring to Alabama.

Senior Guard Chris Youngblood contributed 19 points and three rebounds to the cause. Both Sears and Youngblood are native Alabamians with Sears a native of Muscle Shoals and Youngblood a native of Tuscaloosa. Youngblood played for 2 years at Kenesaw State before transferring to South Florida. He transferred to Alabama after the 2024 season.

Senior Center Clifford Amoruyi – who joined the Tide from Nigeria – scored ten points, had six rebounds, and two assists. Senior Forward/Center Grant Nelson contributed six points, ten rebounds, and three assists. Nelson is from North Dakota. Sophomore Guard Aden Holloway added 23 points, two rebounds, and three assists off the bench. Holloway is from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Alabama is coached by Nate Oats.

"I am so proud of our guys," said Coach Oats following the blowout win. "We're in the Elite Eight for the third time in school history and back-to-back seasons. I thought everybody played well in their roles tonight."

Oats is just one win away from tying Wimp Sanderson for the most NCAA tournament victories for an Alabama basketball coach in the history of the program at 12.

Alabama will play the number one seeded Duke Blue Devils Saturday night in Newark at 7:49 p.m. Duke is the consensus number one team in the country and the Tide's most challenging playoff opponent yet, The game will be televised on TBS/TruTV. Duke is led by Freshman sensation Cooper Flag. Duke advanced to the Elite Eight on Thursday with an impressive win over Maryland. The winner will advance to the Final Four.

Alabama has only gone to the Final Four once in the history of the program. That 2021 team was also coached by Oats.