Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Baylor on October 10, 2025 at 2 p.m. (MST)
M Basketball
2 p.m. (MST)
at Baylor
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, March 24
Spokane, Wash. / Spokane Arena
4:10 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
Alabama
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Alabama raises next NCAA hurdle with pace bump
3/23/2024 2:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes go from slowdown Gaels to breakneck Tide for Sunday's 2nd-rounder
SPOKANE, Wash. – In the postgame euphoria of Grand Canyon's first NCAA Division I tournament win late Friday, the Lopes gathered around a large bracket for captain Gabe McGlothan to carry out the winning team's ceremonial honor of slapping the "Grand Canyon" name onto the second-round slot.
"We're not done! We're not done!" McGlothan yelled to rile up his teammates even more.
GCU is not done, with the work starting overnight for the Lopes coaches in preparation for the NCAA tournament's most drastic style change – going from the methodical ways of 15th-ranked Saint Mary's on Friday night to the breakneck pace of 19th-ranked Alabama for a 4:10 p.m. game Sunday on TBS.
"We'll prep the best that we can to try to defend one of the top explosive offenses in the country," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said.
Here are five things to know about Alabama (22-11), the No. 4 seed in the West Region:
The Crimson Tide gets there by averaging the fourth-most possessions per game in the nation, resulting in the third-most made 3-pointers per game (11.1) and the ninth-most made free throws (17.9). But even with volume, Alabama remains efficient. It's efficent field goal percentage, factor the value of 2- and 3-point shooting, ranks 12th nationally and that is helped by Alabama's 14 fastbreak points per game.
"With the guard play we have, all of us can handle, all of us can shoot," Crimson Tide leading scorer Mark Sears said. "And just with how fast we play, it makes the game very easy. With all the space on the floor, it makes the game very easy."
The good news for GCU is that it boasts a ninth-ranked defense for efficient field goal percentage.
The All-America second-team honoree scored 30 points on 13 shots in Friday's first-round game and is still a distributor at 4.1 points per game and a defensive pest at 1.6 steals per game. He is shooting 51% from the field, 43% from 3-point range and 86% at the free throw line.
"NBA prospect," Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey said. "He can score at all three levels. He gets fouled, which in the new-age analytic basketball, a free-throw generator is very, very good. He scores at the rim. He scores from distance. Great burst. Strong. They run really good actions for him, and he got going. You let a great player like that get going, and the rim starts looking really, really big. You let him shoot 15-foot charity stripe shots to get his confidence up even more, and he gets in a flow. He had 20 at half, and I felt like he had 40."
Alabama, led by fifth-year head coach Nate Oats, went 7-11 this season when allow 80 or more points. That was part of the reason for the Crimson Tide dropping four of seven games preceding the NCAA tournament. Health reasons played into that as well, but even with Alabama's pace of play inflating scoring number, the Crimson Tide rank 117th national in defensive efficiency, according to kenpom.com.
"We just got up 31 and we quit guarding, which is a little frustrating, but it's not the time of the year to really kind of jump these guys right after you just scored 109 points in an NCAA tournament game," Oats said of the first-round win against Charleston.
"We've had a tendency to play the scoreboard a little too often ... I thought we showed a lot of maturity to really guard in the first half, open up the big lead in the second and it would would be nice if we didn't take our foot off the gas when we got up 31, but we're playing on Sunday."
"We're not done! We're not done!" McGlothan yelled to rile up his teammates even more.GCU is not done, with the work starting overnight for the Lopes coaches in preparation for the NCAA tournament's most drastic style change – going from the methodical ways of 15th-ranked Saint Mary's on Friday night to the breakneck pace of 19th-ranked Alabama for a 4:10 p.m. game Sunday on TBS.
"We'll prep the best that we can to try to defend one of the top explosive offenses in the country," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said.
Here are five things to know about Alabama (22-11), the No. 4 seed in the West Region:
1. Points-a-palooza
Alabama leads the nation in points per game at 90.8 and set an SEC record with its 10th 100-point game on Friday night, when the Crimson Tide beat Charleston 109-96 in the first-round game before GCU-Saint Mary's at Spokane Arena.The Crimson Tide gets there by averaging the fourth-most possessions per game in the nation, resulting in the third-most made 3-pointers per game (11.1) and the ninth-most made free throws (17.9). But even with volume, Alabama remains efficient. It's efficent field goal percentage, factor the value of 2- and 3-point shooting, ranks 12th nationally and that is helped by Alabama's 14 fastbreak points per game.
"With the guard play we have, all of us can handle, all of us can shoot," Crimson Tide leading scorer Mark Sears said. "And just with how fast we play, it makes the game very easy. With all the space on the floor, it makes the game very easy."
The good news for GCU is that it boasts a ninth-ranked defense for efficient field goal percentage.
2. Sears sears
Alabama senior Mark Sears' scoring ability scorches opponents just as his last name suggests. The 6-foot-1 point guard from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, transferred from Ohio in 2022 and went from averaging 12.5 points last season to 21.4 this season.The All-America second-team honoree scored 30 points on 13 shots in Friday's first-round game and is still a distributor at 4.1 points per game and a defensive pest at 1.6 steals per game. He is shooting 51% from the field, 43% from 3-point range and 86% at the free throw line.
"NBA prospect," Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey said. "He can score at all three levels. He gets fouled, which in the new-age analytic basketball, a free-throw generator is very, very good. He scores at the rim. He scores from distance. Great burst. Strong. They run really good actions for him, and he got going. You let a great player like that get going, and the rim starts looking really, really big. You let him shoot 15-foot charity stripe shots to get his confidence up even more, and he gets in a flow. He had 20 at half, and I felt like he had 40."
3. Taketh and giveth away
As much as Alabama puts up points, so do the Crimson Tide's opponents. Alabama allows 81.5 points per game, the fifth-highest average in the nation after Florida scored more than 100 points against them twice this month by committing single-digit turnovers in each game (eight and seven).Alabama, led by fifth-year head coach Nate Oats, went 7-11 this season when allow 80 or more points. That was part of the reason for the Crimson Tide dropping four of seven games preceding the NCAA tournament. Health reasons played into that as well, but even with Alabama's pace of play inflating scoring number, the Crimson Tide rank 117th national in defensive efficiency, according to kenpom.com.
"We just got up 31 and we quit guarding, which is a little frustrating, but it's not the time of the year to really kind of jump these guys right after you just scored 109 points in an NCAA tournament game," Oats said of the first-round win against Charleston.
"We've had a tendency to play the scoreboard a little too often ... I thought we showed a lot of maturity to really guard in the first half, open up the big lead in the second and it would would be nice if we didn't take our foot off the gas when we got up 31, but we're playing on Sunday."
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballMakaih Williams | Media Availability | 9.3.25
Thursday, September 04
Dusty Stromer | Media Availability | 9.3.25
Thursday, September 04
Kaleb Smith | Media Availability | 9.3.25
Thursday, September 04
Non-Conference Schedule Release | Men's Basketball
Monday, August 04