LOS ANGELES — Grant Nelson converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds remaining, and fourth-seeded Alabama beat top-seeded North Carolina, 89-87, on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history.
Nelson finished with a season-high 24 points, 19 in the second half, to go with 12 rebounds and he blocked RJ Davis’ attempt at a tying layup after giving Alabama the lead. Rylan Griffen added 19 points, tying his career high with five 3-pointers, and Aaron Estrada also scored 19 for the Crimson Tide (24-11).
“We’ve been working for this all season, but this wasn’t our end goal,” said Nelson, a 6-foot-11 senior who played at North Dakota State his first three years. “It’s good we got here. It’s something that the school has done one other time. We’re going to celebrate it a little bit and then move on, next game.”
Mark Sears, Alabama’s leading scorer this season, finished with 18 points after making just two field goals in the second half when Nelson dominated.
“I was very proud of him,” Sears said. “He was struggling the first two games. To see him carry us, it was very amazing.”
The Tide will face sixth-seeded Clemson in the West Regional final on Saturday at 5:49 p.m. for a berth in the Final Four. The Tigers defeated second-seeded Arizona, 77-72, in the first semifinal, to help set up a regional final between schools that have so often met in titanic college football clashes.
“These guys are bringing their competitive side out at the right time,” said Tide coach Nate Oats, whose squad became the first team in this year’s tournament to oust a No. 1 seed. “You want to be peaking in March and we’re peaking in March.”
After Nelson blocked Davis’ shot with 25 seconds left, Davis furiously dribbled around before missing a layup and the Tar Heels got called for a shot-clock violation with eight seconds left.
“I thought I had an advantage on Nelson and he was able to swat it,” Davis said.
North Carolina was then forced to foul, sending Nelson to the free-throw line where he calmly made both for an 89-85 lead.
Armando Bacot scored inside with one second left, leaving North Carolina trailing 89-87. The Tar Heels fouled Nelson again with 0.9 seconds left. He missed both and time expired on the Tar Heels, who own six national championships.
“Always in the closing minutes, it comes down to a play here or there,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “I’ve talked all season about the little details that make big things happen, not just necessarily shots – rebounds, free throws, loose balls. At the end of the day, they made down the stretch more plays than us. And unfortunately, we came out on the short end.”
Bacot finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds in his final game for UNC (29-8). Cormac Ryan had 17 points and made five 3-pointers and Davis had 16 points.
“I’m definitely hurt. I think we all are a little shocked,” Bacot said. “Felt like we hand a chance to win the national championship this year.”
Davis shot 4 for 20 from the field and missed all nine of his 3-point attempts.
“I just wasn’t good enough, missed a lot of easy shots that I normally make,” Davis said, his voice trailing off as he lowered his head and rubbed his eyes.
The Tide, who will be making their first Elite Eight appearance since 2004, trailed 54-46 at halftime.
The shots weren’t falling for North Carolina at the start of the second half. The Tar Heels missed eight field-goal attempts and six 3-point attempts before the first media timeout, which allowed Alabama to grab the lead.
Nelson and Sam Walters combined to score nine of Alabama’s first 13 points to take a 59-57 lead. The Tar Heels struggled early when the 6-foot-11 Bacot picked up his third foul five minutes in, but they tied it at 59-all on a basket by Harrison Ingram.
Nelson, Estrada and Griffen teamed to score 21 of Alabama’s next 23 points that produced an 82-77 lead. Nelson ran off seven in a row, capped by a 3-pointer.
“It was coaches, players giving me confidence to go out there and just giving me the ball and being able to make plays on their bigs,” Nelson said. “If they shrunk in I’d be able to kick it out.”
Carolina scored eight in a row, including six straight by Davis, to take its last lead at 85-82.
The Tar Heels opened the game on a 19-9 run for their largest lead of a half that included eight ties and seven lead changes.
Mark Sears went on a tear, scoring nine points – hitting a 3-pointer and turning to blow a kiss to the crowd – to help the Tide lead 39-34. Sears finished with 18 points.
“Mark Sears has competed as hard as he’s ever competed since he’s been at Alabama these last three games,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “When the season’s on the line, we’ve been challenging these guys all year. They’ve stepped up.”
North Carolina regained control with a 20-7 spurt to end the half ahead 54-46. Ryan and Ingram had two 3-pointers each and Bacot dunked, slithered around Mohamed Wague for a layup and scored off his own steal.
UNC’s Davis was coaching against Alabama in the tournament for the first time, but had played against the Tide back in 1992 in Cincinnati in the second round of the Southeast Regional. He led the Tar Heels in that game with 16 points.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.