No. 1 Bama breezes past Texas A&M-CC in first round

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 1 overall seed Alabama men’s basketball team defeated No. 16 seed Texas A&M CC 96-75 at Legacy Arena to advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in the South Region. The Crimson Tide will face the No. 8 seed Maryland Terrapins on Saturday afternoon in Birmingham.

Alabama’s offense came out of the gate on fire there. The Tide (30-5) has outscored its last four opponents 48-18 in the first few minutes of its last four games. Alabama jumped out to an early 9-0 lead with seven of the first nine points coming from Noah Clowney. Alabama made 10 threes in 20 minutes, taking a 54-34 lead into the first half. Mark Sears led all scorers at the break with 13 points in the first half, along with 10 points from Clowney to give UA a 20-point halftime cushion.

The Crimson Tide had five players reach double figures on the offensive end, led by 19 from Nick Pringle, 15 from Mark Sears, 13 from Jahvon Quinerly, 11 from Nimari Burnett and 10 from Noah Clowney. Pringle scored all 19 of his second-half points and 15 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Texas A&M CC (24-11) had four players in double figures, led by Trevian Tennyson’s 20 points. Issac Mushila (15), Owen Dease (14) and Ross Williams (11) joined Tennyson to spearhead the Islanders’ attacking efforts.

HEAD COACH NATE OATS POSTGAME COMMENTS
“March, survive and advance, I think what we did. It was a good offensive game. Our defense should be better on Saturday. It was good to go out and make some shots. I was happy to see Mark. He has been in the gym working a lot since the SEC weekend. It shows. I thought he came out, shot really well. Four straight games Trey’s — JQ started. He started out with early leads in all of them. Kind of changed that narrative. We were up 9-zip this game , me. If you combine our total since then it’s 48-18 the last four games. It’s better to play with the lead from the beginning. We had 21 assists tonight. I think the ball is moving. Shows how unselfish our guys are. They continue play. Keep fighting. They had a good start in the second half. I believe Tennyson had 0 in the half and finished with 20 in the second half. Wasn’t good for our defense. We’ll be better against Maryland; we have to be or we’re not going to win You are good go to the second round. No, this tournament game is supposed to be easy.”

TEAM STATISTICS

• Thursday’s first-round matchup marks the second time the Tide and Islanders have faced off on the hardwood, UA defeating Texas A&M CC 76-54 on Dec. 22, 2004, in Tuscaloosa in the only previous matchup between the two squads.
• Alabama’s 96-75 win over Texas A&M CC was UA’s first win at Legacy Arena since Dec. 18, 2019, when the Tide defeated the Samford Bulldogs 105-87
• Alabama is now 3-0 in NCAA Tournament games played in Birmingham, with its most recent victories coming in the first and second rounds of the 1987 NCAA Tournament when UA defeated North Carolina A&T and New Orleans
• Alabama made 15 three-pointers during the game, tied for second in program history for most three-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game behind only 16 three-pointers made in a 32-game sweep against Maryland in 2021
• With four shots blocked today, Charles Bediako has now blocked 15 shots in the postseason
• Alabama had five players reach double figures during the game, Nick Pringle (19), Mark Sears (15), Jahvon Quinerly (13), Nimari Burnett (11) and Noah Clowney (11).
• Nick Pringle picked up his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
• Alabama held a slight edge on the glass, outrebounding the Islanders 48-44
• Alabama produced 21 assists compared to 8 from Texas A&M CC, led by Jaden Bradley with six.
• The Crimson Tide bench outscored the Islander bench 49-29
• Alabama led for the entire contest

FIRST HALF

• Alabama came out of the gate on fire, opening up a 9-0 lead on seven early points from Noah Clowney.
• Clowney had met his season average of 10 points per game before the second media timeout of the half
• Alabama went 5-of-7 from beyond the arc before reaching the halfway point of the opening stanza
• Mark Sears made consecutive three-pointers on three consecutive possessions to extend UA’s lead to 37-23 with 7:20 to play.
• The Tide’s 10 first-half three-pointers tied for third all-time in three-pointers made in a game for Alabama during the NCAA Tournament
• Alabama surpassed the 50-point mark in the first half for the fifth time this season
• Alabama defeated Texas A&M CC 24-16, while dishing out 12 assists in the first half compared to three from the Islanders
• Sears led all scorers at the break with 13 points
• Alabama shot 53 percent (17-of-32) from the field and 59 percent (10-of-17) from three, while Texas A&M CC made 31 percent (11-of-35) from the field and 25 percent (3-of- 12) from beyond the arc in the opening frame
• Alabama led the entire first half and never let the score get closer than three points

HALF TIME

• Texas A&M CC opened the first 2:19 on an 8-3 run to cut the lead to 57-44, forcing an Alabama timeout
• Alabama responded well and went on a 7-0 run of its own over 1:00 to stretch the lead back to 20 (64-44), with 15:39 left in the game.
• Nick Pringle was very active in the second half; The junior had all 19 points in the second half along with grabbing 10 rebounds (15 total) to record his second double-double of the season.
• The Tide shot 42 percent (16-of-38) in the second half to score 42 second half points
• Alabama tallied nine assists in the second half, with two each coming from Brandon Miller, Jaden Bradley, and Rylan Griffen.
• Charles Bediako and Griffen had a pair of blocks in the second stanza

UP NEXT
Alabama will move on to the second round against the Maryland Terrapins on Friday afternoon at Heritage Arena