This is an opinion column.
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Into the Elite Eight goes an Alabama team with suddenly, beautifully, ruggedly more grit and flavor and sauce than a Waffle House after midnight on the night of a full moon.
Here in the upset city of Los Angeles, with an arena of North Carolina fans on their feet, the blue-blooded and top-seeded Tar Heels were scattered, covered and cooked by the sizzling hot Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
It took a defense growing up at the right time.
It took confidence after allowing 10 3-pointers before halftime.
It took every last whisker of Grant Nelson’s dirty mustache and filthy game.
It was the arrival of Alabama coach Nate Oats into the Elite Eight and it was an announcement to the country that after everything we’ve seen this might actually be the year that Crimson Tide basketball breaks through to the Final Four.
Alabama is one win away for just the second time in school history.
They were howling for North Carolina early here at Cryto.com Arena on Thursday night, but this building was stunned and quieted in the end after Alabama’s historic 89-87 come-from-behind victory. The Tide was down by eight at halftime and then behind by three with 92 seconds to play.
Then it was Mark Sears with the driving layup.
Then it was Sears to Nelson for the and-one pick-and-roll play.
Then it was a defensive possession that will go down in Alabama sports history for as long as they play basketball in the Yellowhammer State. North Carolina was down 87-85 with the ball and 35.3 seconds to play. UNC coach Hubie Davis called a timeout to draw up a side-out-of-bounds play.
And Alabama’s defense stuffed the Tar Heels cold.
First it was Grant Nelson with the block on UNC guard RJ Davis and then it was Nelson with the clean contest on Davis again. Amazingly, facing the biggest play of the season, with everything on the line, Alabama forced a shot-clock violation with 8.6 seconds left.
North Carolina couldn’t even sniff the rim. Ball game. It was legendary.
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And just like that it’s Alabama vs. Clemson like old times.
Book your flights this instant because this team of late-season studs needs more support than they’ve received out here on the West Coast for the semifinals of the West Regional.
They said Alabama had no chance against UNC before this one. They were wrong. Winners of three straight victories for the first time in over a month, Alabama (24-11) did it with a stunning display of toughness in the second half against a Tar Heels team that came to the Sweet 16 with all the swagger.
North Carolina is going home after being undone by a kid from North Dakota with a scoring streak filthier than his wispy mustache. Nelson, Alabama’s transfer from North Dakota State, has shown flashes of his potential throughout the season. It all came together for him on the national stage and with the season on the line.
“Who is Grant Nelson?” asked a reporter in the postgame news conference.
“I don’t think they should be asking anymore,” chirped Alabama’s coach, overcome with excitement and interjecting himself into the conversation.
Nelson then gave a shout out to his hometown of Devil’s Lake, N.D., population 7,161.
It was the stuff of March Madness dreams and now it’s all a part of Crimson Tide lore forever. Nelson led Alabama with 24 points, including 13 of the Tide’s final 15 points with less than five minutes to go, but it wasn’t just his offense that helped Alabama win this game. It was his defense, too, against big Armando Bacot. Nelson matched Bacot in the frontcourt with 12 rebounds.
Somehow, after banging against Bacot for long stretches in the second half, Nelson still had his legs to drill a clutch 3-pointer with 3:44 to play. It put Alabama ahead 82-77, but then Alabama had to mount a comeback one more time.
Give credit to Alabama forward Nick Pringle, too. He was hurting badly due to an apparent foot injury, but kept at it. Oats credited Pringle’s leadership this past week along with the voice of Sears, Alabama’s rock-steady senior point guard. Sears had 18 points and Aaron Estrada came through with 19 of his own. Ryan Griffen had 19 as well, and also locked down RJ Davis, Carolina’s talented backcourt ace. Davis had 16 points but was 4 of 20 from the field and 0 of 9 from 3-point range.
Oats said that Griffen demanded to guard Davis during an early timeout. It wasn’t part of the game plan, but Oats believed in his player and that made all the difference.
“He said put me on [Davis] and he wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Oats said.
Alabama slugged through the second round against Grand Canyon, but this one was a brilliant show of offense from the beginning. UNC went 10 of 16 from 3-point range in the first half, but Alabama survived the opening salvo with seven 3s of its own.
North Carolina’s sharpshooting Cormac Ryan stroked his third 3-pointer of the game with 4:47 left in the first half. A player of considerable national hype, Ryan was on fire. He pumped his fist in the air. He summoned the spirit of Tar Heels great Michael Jordan. He called out to the pro-Tar Heel crowd here in downtown Los Angeles. Ryan wanted everyone to know he was feeling it.
Here’s the thing, though. Despite that 3-pointer giving North Carolina seven from distance at that point in the game, and despite UNC shooting a sizzling 63.6 percent from 3-point range, the iconic powder blue unis were still trailing Alabama 39-37.
North Carolina was at its best, but even then Alabama was better.
SOUND OFF
Got a question about the changing landscape of college football, spring practice or March Madness? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe a question about what’s on your mind for the weekly mailbag. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.
Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the most controversial sports book ever written, “We Want Bama”.