By Bert Leeson
4 6 2024
PHOENIX – The University of Alabama men’s basketball team arrived Tuesday night and is the first team to land in Phoenix, site of the 2024 NCAA Final Four. This year’s men’s basketball national semifinals and championship game is set to take place April 6 and 8 inside State Farm Stadium.
The No. 4 seed Crimson Tide will take on the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed UConn Saturday night in the second semifinal which is slated to tipoff Saturday night at approximately 5:49 p.m. PT (7:40 p.m. CT) and will be televised on TBS.
NCAA Final Four Notes
- This marks Alabama’s first-ever NCAA Men’s Final Four, as the Crimson Tide is the only team among this year’s group (UConn, Purdue, NC State) that is making its first appearance in program history
- Alabama has reached three Sweet 16s (2021, 2023, 2024) across the last four years
- The Tide made the program’s second Elite Eight appearance in 2024, joining the 2004 squad as the only teams to achieve the feat
- Head coach Nate Oats has a record of 8-3 (.727) across the four NCAA Tournaments appearances at the helm of the Alabama program (2021-24)
- Alabama is appearing in its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament in 2024, marking the first time that’s happened since 2002-06
- It is the first time in program history the Crimson Tide has earned back-to-back seasons as a No. 4 seed or better in the NCAA Tournament (No. 1 seed in 2023)
- Oats has guided his teams to NCAA Tournament appearances in seven of the eight years the event was held during his coaching career, including each year as the Tide’s head coach (tournament was cancelled in 2020 due to the worldwide pandemic)
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PHOENIX – The top-seed UConn men’s basketball team (35-3) is off to the desert as it looks to continue a historic season, taking on four-seed Alabama (25-11) in the National Semifinals on Saturday night. The Huskies kick off their seventh Final Four appearance with a 8:49 ET / 5:49 PT tip against the Crimson Tide at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The contest will air on TBS with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson on the call.
Connecticut has bulldozed its way to Phoenix, winning its first four games in the 2024 NCAA Tournament by an average of nearly 28 points per game. The Huskies have set an NCAA Tournament record with 10-straight wins in the big dance by double-digits, and have made back-to-back Final Fours for the first time in program history. UConn won the East Regional on Saturday with a 77-52 win over three-seed Illinois, using a ridiculous 30-0 run to turn a tight game at halftime into a laugher.
Alabama advanced to its first Final Four out of the West Regional, taking down Clemson in the Regional Final on Saturday. UConn is 2-0 all-time against the Tide, including an NCAA Tournament meeting in Phoenix. In that Sweet 16 game in 2004, UConn used a 3-point barrage from Ben Gordon and Rashad Anderson to come away with an 87-71 win en route to its second national championship. The squads also met last year in the Phil Knight Invitational, an 82-67 triumph for the Huskies.
UConn has won a program-record 35 games this season and done so with balance, boasting one of the most efficient offenses in America and one of its stingiest defenses. The Huskies recently became the first team in NCAA Tournament history to win four-straight games will scoring 75 or more and allowing 60 or less. First Team All-American and Wooden Award finalist Tristen Newton leads the balanced offensive attack with 15.0 points per game, ranking second on the squad with 6.7 rebounds per game and first with 6.0 assists per game. Cam Spencer complements him in the backcourt with 14.4 points per game and is sixth in the nation with a 44.0 percent mark from 3-point range.
In the frontcourt, Donovan Clingan is coming off an East Regional Most Outstanding Player selection after averaging a double-double with 15.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in UConn’s first four tournament games. The big man has blocked 14 shots in the tournament and averages 2.5 swats per game on the year, ranking among the national leaders. Alex Karaban is UConn’s third leading scorer and rebounder on the year with 13.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and has scored 20 or more in a game eight times this season. Stephon Castle rounds out the starting five all averaging double-figures, as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year scores 10.7 points per game to go with 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
The Crimson Tide have advanced to Phoenix behind their potent offense, averaging over 90 points per game on the season. Mark Sears leads the attack with 21.5 points per game, shooting 50.4 percent from the floor and 43.4 percent from 3-point range. Aaron Estrada adds 13.3 points and a team-high 4.6 assists per game, while Grant Nelson chips in 11.7 points and a team-leading 5.6 rebounds per contest.
UConn is looking to improve on its 10-1 all-time record at the Final Four, the best mark of any team to make multiple trips in NCAA Tournament history. Should the Huskies advance, they will face the winner of 11-seed NC State and 1-seed Purdue on Monday night.
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