No. 2 seed Alabama rode a record-setting outside shooting performance to an 113-88 win over No. 6 seed BYU in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. The Crimson Tide broke a 35-year old mark for most 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game with 25, the most in Division I this season, as they torched the Cougars in a fast-paced offensive battle.
Alabama broke the previous all-time record for most 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game held by Loyola Marymount after it hit 21 shots from deep in a 149-115 second-round victory over Michigan in the 1990 NCAA Tournament. Loyola Marymount was a team on a mission in the 1990 Big Dance, as the Lions reached the Elite Eight as a No. 11 seed following the shocking death of star Hank Gathers in the WCC Tournament.
Mark Sears and Aden Holloway led the charge for the Crimson Tide by becoming the first teammates to each hit six or more 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game.
Sears finished 10 of 16 from deep and came within one make of tying LMU’s Jeff Fryer’s all-time NCAA Tournament record of 11 made 3-pointers set in that game vs. Michigan.
Alabama surpassed LMU’s longstanding mark with 7:41 remaining when Sears hit a triple from the left wing to put the Crimson Tide ahead 97-76. Alabama took 51 of its 66 (77.2%) shots from beyond the arc. That also set a record for highest percentage of a team’s field goal attempts to come from 3-point range in an NCAA Tournament game, surpassing the previous mark of 74.5% set by Iona in 2019.
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