BYU’s Defensive Struggles Against Alabama Bring Season To Close
Mar 27, 2025, 10:51 PM | Updated: 11:20 pm
NEWARK, N.J. – The memorable run for BYU basketball in 2025 comes to a close.
In most NCAA Tournament games, scoring 88 points should be enough to advance in the bracket. But on Thursday night inside the Prudential Center, BYU ran into a buzzsaw that was Alabama’s offense.
BYU basketball’s season comes to a close.
Alabama 113, BYU 88 pic.twitter.com/2fH20gAGV3
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 28, 2025
Alabama rolled to the tune of an all-time night scoring 113 points.
Alabama knocks down 25 three-pointers
The Crimson Tide knocked down a record 25 three-pointers. They set a single-game NCAA Tournament record for most 3s.
Alabama All-American guard Mark Sears was lights out.
Sears buried 10 threes on 16 attempts. He finished the night with 34 points.
Alabama reserve guard Aden Holloway hit dagger threes that put the game out of reach.
The biggest came after BYU’s Mawot Mag buried a three-pointer of his own to bring the deficit down to seven. Holloway quickly answered with a deep ball to get the lead back to 10.
Alabama never looked back from there.
BYU’s offense hung tough for as long as they could. But giving up 25 threes is a difficult proposition to overcome.
“Perfect storm”
BYU’s defense couldn’t make the necessary adjustments to slow down the high-level shotmaking from the Tide on a historic night.
“It was a perfect storm for them, just because I think the three-point line can be very paralyzing, and we play a similar style. They’re more dynamic than we are, clearly, but I know Nate (Oats) and their staff, and I think we share a lot of similar philosophies. So I think we tried to use what teams do against us defensively and have that in mind.
“When teams get petrified at the three-point line, you give up the rim a lot. This is a team that leads all power conferences in points in the paint, 40 a night. Tonight they had 16, but then they go bananas from three.”
Alabama entered the matchup hitting a combined 13 threes in their first two NCAA Tournament games. In their Round of 64 matchup against No. 15 seed Robert Morris, the Tide trailed with six minutes to go.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats believed those shooting numbers, particularly for Mark Sears, were going to turn around.
“Listen, I’ve got to teach these guys some math,” Oats said. “I told Sears there’s a thing called regression to the mean. His last six games he was shooting 14 percent, 5 of 35. He’s not a 14 percent shooter, obviously.”
Alabama saw trends in BYU’s defense that felt this shooting performance was possible
Oats saw trends in BYU’s defense that led him to believe that the matchup with the Cougars would get Alabama back on track. And he was spot on.
“They had been going under ball screens just about every game we watched,” said Oats. “I told both those guys, Holloway and Sears, man, I hope they go under us because we’re going to rein them.”
The lack of successful in-game adjustments for BYU were surprising as they have been excellent in adjusting on the fly during this season. Against Alabama, there was no answer for the deep shots the Tide were knocking down.
Alabama only attempted 15 shots inside the arc. They attempted 51 three-pointers. It was roll tide roll from three-point distance, thus bringing a memorable BYU season to a close.
BYU finishes the year with a 26-10 record. They exit the season after their first visit to the Sweet 16 in 14 years.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
