Alabama basketball drops 109 points to wallop Charleston in March Madness
SPOKANE, Wash. — Basketball in the state of Alabama had to be redeemed, and it all came down to the Crimson Tide.
March Madness had not looked favorably on teams from the Yellowhammer State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Samford lost Thursday night. Then on Friday, UAB lost to San Diego State before Yale upset Auburn.
No. 4 seed Alabama took the weight of the state and went to work against No. 13 seed Charleston. The Crimson Tide shook off a slow start to string together run after run, overwhelming the Cougars with high-flying offense. As a result, Alabama basketball blew past Charleston 109-96 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Mark Sears led all scorers with 30 points.
With the victory, Alabama surpassed 100 points for the 10th time this season, an SEC record. The Crimson Tide also set the program record for points in an NCAA Tournament game, surpassing the 97 scored against Xavier in 1986.
Here are observations and takeaways from the March Madness game between Alabama (22-11) and Charleston (27-8).
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Mark Sears leads first-half charge for Alabama basketball
The start to the game looked all too familiar to recent struggles.
Alabama wasn't getting shots to fall, the defense had lapses too often and the brand of basketball overall didn't provide much confidence. As a result, Charleston jumped out to a 19-13 lead with 12:40 left before halftime.
Then Alabama flipped a switch.
Sears got things rolling with a triple. He went on to score 16 points over the final 12 minutes, and Alabama outscored Charleston 38-15 before halftime.
The Crimson Tide got hot from beyond the arc, shooting 7-of-13 (54%) in the first half. Alabama also did damage at the free-throw line, going 12-for-18 before the break.
Combine that with some better defense, and Alabama took a 51-34 lead into halftime.
The only thing that really kept the Cougars in the game before halftime were their offensive rebounds and second-chance points. Charleston grabbed 11 offensive boards to Alabama's four and had a 13-2 advantage in second-chance points.
Offense doesn't cool off in second half, sets records
Halftime didn't provide any relief for Charleston from Alabama's offensive onslaught. The Crimson Tide kept cooking, and even took it to another level at times.
Sears continued to play a central role in the success, but Alabama spread the ball around too. Players like Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen and even Mo Wague had multiple buckets in the second half to lead the offensive attack.
What's next in NCAA Tournament bracket?
Alabama advances to the Round of 32 on Sunday, facing No. 12 seed Grand Canyon at 6:10 p.m. CT on TBS. The winner will then advance to the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles.
Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama basketball vs Charleston: Tide cruises to start March Madness
