As expected, No. 2 Alabama and No. 6 BYU put on an offensive show and lit up the scoreboard as the two teams combined for more than 200 points.

But in the end, Alabama’s historic shooting night from beyond the arc couldn’t be stopped as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 113-88 victory over the Cougars.

The two programs clobbered the over/under for the game at 175 as the two teams combined for 201 points thanks to a historic shooting night from the Tide.

Alabama broke the 35-year-old March Madness record for 3-pointers made in a game at 25. The previous record was held by Loyola Marymount who made 21 in a second-round game against Michigan in 1990. Alabama also attempted a record amount of 3-pointers at 51, easily surpassing the previous record. To put all that into perspective, of the Crimson Tide’s field goal attempts, 77% were 3-pointers.

Senior point guard Mark Sears led the way by scoring 30 of his 34 points on 3s, leading the Crimson Tide to the Elite 8. Sears came in on a shooting slump going 5-for-35 in his past five games, but on Thursday, he appeared to have saved all of his makes for BYU.

With the win, Alabama reached the Elite Eight in consecutive years for the first time in program history.

For BYU, they missed out on getting back to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1981. The Cougars played a great game, however, when the opposing team can’t miss — and when they are shooting 6-8 feet from beyond the arc — you just have to tip your cap to them.

Richie Saunders led the way for the Cougars with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Freshman sensation Egor Demin, who likely played his last game at BYU before entering the NBA Draft, had 15 points and a team-high 7 assists. Keba Keita added 13 points and 6 rebounds while Trevin Knell chipped in with 10 points and 3 steals.

Big 12 Ties Sweet 16 Record, Restores Reputation In NCAA Tournament

BYU, which came in as one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country at nearly 38%, only made 20% of their attempts on Thursday. Meanwhile, Alabama, which came in shooting 35% from deep, ended up making 49%, which is incredible considering they attempted 51 shots from beyond the arc.

“All credit goes to Nate Oats, their staff and their players for a historic shooting performance,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said after the game. “That was hard to overcome for us. We felt like we made a little dent and started going the other way, and they just kept it going. In terms of our group, just extremely proud of our guys. I just told them in the locker room, which is something we hadn’t talked about literally all year until just now, this was a team that was picked ninth in the Big 12, and we’re one of the last 16 teams standing.”

While the loss stung for Cougar fans, players and coaches, many see this season as a big springboard as the Cougars look to build off this tournament run and make an even deeper run next year. And with the No. 1 high school player in the country in AD Dybantsa joining, that looks like a real possibility.

Here’s all the reactions:

https://x.com/geoffjBYU/status/1905441144231919786

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