No. 2 seed Alabama’s season comes to an end with an 85-65 loss to No. 1 seed Duke in the Elite Eight.
The Crimson Tide kept the game within arm's length for most of the game, but the Blue Devils’ offense was too much for Alabama to handle.
Here are a few takeaways from the game.
Shooting Came Back to Earth
Alabama entered Saturday’s game off a record-setting shooting night but quickly came back to earth against a tough Duke defense. The Crimson Tide struggled both inside the paint and beyond the arc to get shots to fall. Alabama finished the night shooting a meager 25% from three and 35.4% from the floor.
Sears Struggles to Score
Coming off a 34-point game, Mark Sears was only able to contribute six points Saturday night. The senior got off to a slow start, scoring just two points in the first half. The second half wasn’t much better, as he was only able to add four points in the second half. Sears was unable to stay hot from behind the arc, going just 1-for-5. Duke not only shut him down behind the arc, but Sears could not find any success on the dribble drive. Sears finished his tough shooting night going 2-for-12 from the field.
Duke Dominated the Paint
Duke had its way with Alabama inside the paint on both ends of the court. The Blue Devils outscored the Crimson Tide inside the paint 40-28. Duke also controlled the glass against the Crimson Tide, pulling down 41 rebounds to just 30 for Alabama.
Too Much Length from Duke
Duke's biggest advantage in the game was its size and length. On the offensive end of the court, Duke was able to create mismatches against the smaller Alabama guards. The Blue Devils consistently took advantage of their size and completed many successful alley-oops to their bigs. On the defensive end, the size forced Alabama to alter many of its shots inside the paint, causing low-percentage shots.
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