Alabama men’s basketball, in the Elite Eight, looked nothing like the team that showed up in the Sweet 16. The one that scored at will. The group that would not be denied offensively.
Duke denied the Crimson Tide again and again and again. And even when the Blue Devils didn’t, Alabama couldn’t get shots to fall.
That resulted in No. 1 seed Duke controlling most of the game in what turned out to be an 85-65 drubbing on Saturday at Prudential Center in the Elite Eight.
“Duke is as good a team as we’ve seen all year,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “We’ve got some really good teams in the SEC, and they’re at that level, and it wasn’t meant to be for us tonight.”
Alabama finished 25% from deep, making 8 of 32 shots from beyond the arc. That was a far cry from the record-setting night in which the Crimson Tide made 25 triples against BYU two days prior.
“They did a good job of taking away our three ball,” Alabama guard Mark Sears said. “And that’s something that we do really well at a high level, and they just did a great job of taking away our three ball.”
Duke pressured the Crimson Tide early and often, seldom allowing the Crimson Tide to get open looks.
Sears only made 1 of 5 from deep against Duke after he made 10 of 16 against BYU. He struggled overall offensively, finishing 2 of 12 with no rebounds, six assists and five turnovers with six total points.
“They were just building out,” Sears said. “When we would drive, they would build out, and they had a great rim protector at the rim making it hard on us, and they just did a really good job of doing that.”
Alabama struggled with Duke’s length all game. Khaman Maluach in particular. The 7-2 center protected the rim at an elite level. Alabama wants to get layups more than any other shot, other than free throws, and Maluach made that difficult.
“We made the point to our guys we’re not going to go in and score on him, and we had a few guys still try to challenge him,” Oats said. “It’s kind of a habit, you can tell them going in. And then he ended up having two blocks. We ended up having more blocks than them, but the way he challenges, it’s a problem.”
Alabama didn’t let Cooper Flagg, the likely No. 1 overall NBA draft pick and the nation’s best player, take over the game. He had a good day but not an elite one. He finished with 16 points on 6 of 16 shooting with nine rebounds.
But Alabama often couldn’t account for his counterparts, too. Kon Knueppel led all scorers with 21 points. Maluach scored 14 and grabbed nine rebounds. Tyrese Proctor scored 17.
“We dug ourselves a hole early, gave ourselves some adversity we had to face,” Oats said. “I thought we did a decent job fighting back, but they’re too good a team to dig yourselves a big hole. And I think the closest we ever got it from that was six, and then they went on a big run there in the last — kind of that under-eight media. We had a shot there. I think it was nine-point game with the under-eight media, then they went out on a 13-0 run and the game was over then.”
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for Follow him on X and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
