LOS ANGELES — Clemson basketball failed to reach its first Final Four in program history, losing 89-82 Saturday in the Elite Eight to Alabama at Crypto.com Arena.

The sixth-seeded Tigers' historic March Madness run came to an end as the No. 4 seed Crimson Tide (25-11) went nuclear from 3-point range.

Clemson (24-12) built an early 26-13 lead, powered by Chase Hunter and strong minutes from RJ Godfrey off the bench. It contained Alabama’s leading scorer, Mark Sears, to five points in the first half, which led to Jarin Stevenson stepping up. The bench player scored 10 points, including two 3-pointers, in the first half that helped Alabama regain momentum and take a 35-32 lead at halftime.

Clemson retook the lead in the beginning of the second half, but Alabama stole it back, thanks to Sears and Stevenson's torrid shooting. The Crimson Tide never relinquished it again despite Clemson cutting the lead to 76-73 in the final minutes. Sears finished with a game-high 23 points.

Joseph Girard III had 19 points, Ian Schieffelin added 18 and PJ Hall scored 14 for Clemson.

Here are two takeaways from Clemson's Elite Eight loss:

Alabama erupts from 3-point range, scoring 16

After holding opponents to 4.7 made 3-pointers in their first three games of the NCAA tournament, the Tigers could not contain the highest-scoring offense in the country.

Unlike when Clemson faced New Mexico, Baylor and Arizona, all of which missed many open attempts, the Crimson Tide hurt the Tigers for uncovered 3-pointers. Sears and Stevenson combined for 12.

It was the most 3-poiners Alabama has made in the NCAA tournament this season and the third time scoring double-digit 3-pointers in March Madness.

Clemson basketball game plan: Attack inside

The Tigers opened the game with Hall scoring inside the 3-point arc, displaying what their offensive plan was against Alabama. They leaned into their inside scoring, using Hall, Schieffelin and Godfrey, who had 12 points, in the post to either score or get to the free-throw line.

Clemson scored 42 points in the paint. Inside scoring became more critical because it struggled from the 3-point line, shooting 8-for-26.

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson vs Alabama in Elite Eight: March Madness journey comes to end