No. 18 Alabama upset No. 1 North Carolina 103-101 on Sunday night in four overtimes. Here’s what you need to know:
- The game marked the first time an AP No. 1 team played in a four-overtime game.
- The win was Alabama’s first over a No. 1 team since Stanford in 2004.
- Four players tallied over 50 minutes of game time, led by Alabama’s Mark Sears’ 55 minutes and 24 points.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
What happened that led to four overtimes?
Mostly, a back-and-forth scoring barrage. Specifically, 14 lead changes and 15 tie scores show how evenly matched these two teams were, with neither able to create much breathing room. The closer either side got, actually, was when UNC — courtesy of a Caleb Love and-one — went up eight with just under nine minutes to play in the second half. The problem? From that point on, until the end of regulation, the Tar Heels converted on just four of their 14 offensive possessions, which allowed Alabama to climb back in.
Plus, there were plenty of injuries and fouls that mucked up an already messy affair. Four of UNC’s five starters finished the game with four fouls, including big men Armando Bacot and Pete Nance, both of whom sat for large swaths of the second half and the four overtimes. Same sort of deal for Alabama, which saw three of its starters finish with four fouls. And in terms of injuries, both Bacot and UNC wing Leaky Black sustained ankle injuries… but gritted through any discomfort to play 38 and 54 minutes, respectively.
By the time the overtime periods hit, it was a matter of which team had better late-game execution. But roughly speaking, here’s how the first three overtimes ended:
- First overtime: With the score tied, UNC had the ball in a last-possession situation. Love — who finished with 36 shot attempts, the second-most in a game in program history — dribbled out most of the clock, and then launched a stepback 3 that didn’t drop.
- Second overtime: Tie game, again, except this time it was Alabama with the last possession of the period. Alabama got the mismatch it wanted when Nance was forced to switch onto guard Jahvon Quinerly. Quinerly dribbled out most of the time on the clock, then drove to the left of the basket looking for a layup (or a potential foul) — but credit to Nance, who slid his feet in space and came up with a huge block.
- Third overtime: Alabama and North Carolina traded timeouts with about 30 seconds left and the score tied, with the Tar Heels ultimately inbounding the ball. But any final play for North Carolina fell apart when Nance’s cross-court pass to Love, who was covered, ended up bouncing out of bounds — off Love — with three seconds left. Alabama, though, countered with a bad final sequence of its own, when Jaden Bradley’s inbounds pass went over Quinerly’s head and out of bounds, untouched. — Marks
How did the game finally end?
In a mess, frankly. With 8.9 seconds left and Alabama up one, Love drove left out of timeout from the top of the key and attempted a runner that would’ve given UNC the lead. But Alabama big Charles Bediako — who finished the game with 16 rebounds and three blocks — deflected Love’s shot. Now the controversy: Originally called goaltending on the floor, after every official reviewed the play, it was determined that Bediako’s block was clean. In that case, as a result of the play being blown dead via an inadvertent whistle, the ball goes to the team with the possession arrow… which, at the time, was Alabama.
UNC responded by making several defense-for-offense substitutions, which paid off splendidly; freshman guard Seth Trimble timed the inbounds pass perfectly with 8.3 seconds left, and leapt across Bradley, the receiver, right at the point of contact — which caused the ball to go out of bounds off Bradley.
But the next play was the backbreaker: Nance inbounded the ball from the deep corner to Black, who was trying to post up with a smaller defender on him. But Black got pulled into the baseline as Nance released the ball, and he ended up essentially throwing it straight to Bediako. UNC fouled quickly, sending Bradley to the line, where he made one of two free throws to put Alabama back up two. Without a final timeout, though, UNC had to quickly inbound the ball — so R.J. Davis caught it on the right sideline, rushed up the floor, and uncorked a desperate 3-point heave at the buzzer, which missed. — Marks
#BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/QjzKphx7wy
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) November 28, 2022
What we learned about Alabama
That the Tide are deeper, perhaps, than we even expected — especially considering stud freshman forward Brandon Miller, a potential lottery pick, was held to just 14 points on 4-of-21 shooting. Six different players hit double digits, led by Spears’ 24; the Ohio transfer hit seven of his 11 3-point attempts, a new career-high.
But Nate Oats’ team plays to their style: live and die by the 3-ball, play with incredible pace, and try to limit the turnovers that inherently come with that chaos. And while, yes, Alabama had a whopping 22 turnovers on Sunday, North Carolina only turned those into 13 points. You can live with that margin when you hit 16 3s, nine more than the Tar Heels did. — Marks
What we learned about UNC
That this team is still very much a work in progress. Love and Davis, the team’s starting backcourt, made only 35 percent of their combined 61 attempts (!!), a continuation of some early-season struggles both have had with efficiency. Nance, who tied his career-high against Portland on Thursday, only attempted four shots; the Northwestern transfer still needs some time to develop on-court chemistry with his new teammates.
North Carolina was the No. 1 team in the country in the preseason for a reason, and with four starters back from last season’s national title game, there’s still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the team’s long-term trajectory. But right now, the offense is a little out of sync, and that’s something Hubert Davis needs to smooth out shortly. — Marks
Highlight of the game
📺: https://t.co/NrjhJ3znkb#RollTide pic.twitter.com/w3m8X5nPDs
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) November 27, 2022
(Photo: Marvin Gentry/ USA Today)
