Live Hoops Updates: Alabama 72, Grand Canyon 61; Final
No. 4-seed Alabama (22-11) will face 12-seed Grand Canyon (30-4) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash. The matchup will tip-off at 6:10 p.m. CT on TBS.
The Crimson Tide, which advanced to the Round of 32 following a school-record 109 points in an NCAA Tournament game, is looking to make it to back-to-back Sweet 16s for the first time since 1990-91. Nate Oats has a record of 5-3 in NCAA Tournament games during his five years as the head coach at Alabama, which include a pair of Sweet 16 appearances.
Game links: WATCH | LISTEN | STATS
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PREGAME
— Officials: Kipp Kissinger, D.J. Cartensen and Vladimir Voyard-Tadal
— Alabama starters: Mark Sears, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen and Grant Nelson
— Alabama is wearing its throwback uniforms for a third straight game.
FIRST HALF
— Alabama 6, GCU 3 (15:00) | UA is 0 for its last 6, while GCU is 0 for its last 5. Lopes are 1-for-11 for the game but have an 11-7 edge on the glass, including O boards (4-1).
— GCU 8, Alabama 7 (11:48) | Lopes’ fourth block of the game leads to a 3 on the other end, and Nate Oats picks up a technical.
— Nate Oats to TBS on his technical foul: “The calls down here aren’t equal to the calls down there. … They’re two different refs, but they need to have consistency within the crew. I’m not happy with it.”
— Alabama 13, GCU 9 (10:14) | Mark Sears knocks down back-to-back 3s, and GCU calls a timeout. He snapped a streak of 13 straight missed shots by the Crimson Tide.
— Alabama 17, GCU 13 (8:10) | Grant Nelson picks up his second foul, which will be reviewed during the media timeout, on a screen.
— Latrell Wrightsell Jr. stayed down on the court for a while and is now heading to the Tide’s locker room.
— Latrell Wrightsell Jr. has been ruled out with a head injury, per UA.
— Alabama 28, GCU 28 (2:27) | The Tide has made its last 4 FGs, but the Lopes have tied the game at the under-4 media timeout.
SECOND HALF
— Nick Pringle starts the second half in place of Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
— Alabama 42, GCU 33 (15:59) | No FGs for the Lopes over the last 2:49. UA has limited GCU to 29% from the field (10-for-35) tonight.
— Grant Nelson with his third foul with 13:46 to play. GCU is in the bonus. Alabama foul trouble: Nick Pringle, 3; Jarin Stevenson, 3; Grant Nelson, 3.
— Alabama 45, GCU 39 (12:06) | Mark Sears and Rylan Griffen are a combined 10-for-19 from the field and 6-for-13 from 3. The rest of the Tide is 6-for-29 and 0-for-10. UA is 1 for its last 9 from the floor.
— Alabama 52, GCU 48 (7:54) | Mark Sears is up to 20 points. But UA has 4 players with 3 fouls at the under-8 timeout. Jarin Stevenson will go to the line after the break.
— Jarin Stevenson fouls out of the game, and GCU ties things up after an and-1 play with 6:46 to play.
— Alabama 62, GCU 58 (4:48) | UA responds to an 8-0 GCU run with a 7-0 run of its own, sparked by 5 straight from Mo Dioubate.
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