Revenge against Clemson adding more fuel to Alabama's Final Four fire

LOS ANGELES – Alabama has a chance to accomplish what no other team in program history has been able to do – reach the Final Four. After upsetting 1-seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night, the Crimson Tide will face 6-seed Clemson in the Elite Eight on Saturday, March 30, with an opportunity to advance to the tournament’s third week.

If that wasn’t enough motivation for Alabama’s players, it can use its Nov. 28 loss to the Tigers as fuel. Clemson defeated the Crimson Tide, 85-77, in Tuscaloosa in the ACC/SEC Challenge, but Alabama will have a shot at redemption at Crypto.com Arena tomorrow night.

“I think as us being competitors, there’s definitely a revenge factor,” said guard Aaron Estrada. “Nobody wants to lose to a team twice, especially who you think you could beat. So I think that’s just going to add even more fuel to us, and it’s going to make us play harder.”

In the last meeting, Clemson shot 53.3 percent from the field, 52.4 percent from 3-point range and scored 10 more points in the paint than the Tide, 32-22. The Tigers were led by center P.J. Hall, who registered 21 points and eight rebounds, and combined with forward Ian Schieffelin, Clemson’s starting frontcourt combo recorded 22 rebounds against UA.

Playing better in the post and defending the three was a consensus among the Alabama contingent, but the Crimson Tide is coming off an impressive showing against Carolina big man Armando Bacot – particularly Grant Nelson, who tallied 24 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in the Sweet 16. Alabama will look to do the same against the Tigers.

“I think there’s a lot to learn from the last time we played them,” Nelson said. “Like, I think we fronted the post a little too much. Gave them too many angles, their bigs. And then we let their shooters get hot. So I think we’ve got a lot to learn, but also I mean that was the beginning of the season, and I feel like a lot has changed for them. The same with us.

“We’re definitely going to make some changes on the scouting report. And I think we’re going to do our best to do what we can to stop their best players from getting hot.”

Added Rylan Griffen, who locked down UNC’s R.J. Davis on Thursday, “I would say we need to just guard the post a little bit better and we can’t let the shooters come off of screens as easy as they did and hit 3s. They were playing as good as anybody in the country at the time when they beat us, and they had a little fallback.

“But now they’re back to playing like that team that we played earlier in the season, and so we’ve just got to make adjustments from that game. I think that’s a good game to go back and watch because it was against us. We already played them already. We should use that to our advantage.”

Since its November loss to Clemson, Alabama posted a 19-9 record but turned around a late-season skid and played arguably its best game of the year on Thursday in Los Angeles. Tigers head coach Brad Brownell discussed what changed in the Tide since the last meeting.

“I think they’ve just gotten better,” Brownell said. “Some of it is Grant Nelson looks more comfortable. Obviously, the way he played in the last 10 minutes of the game last night was remarkable. Probably made himself a lot of money.

“We played him early on and he was still kind of feeling it out. I’m sure Nate was doing the same – we’re all trying to put our teams together. We think we’re good at this. We’re not sure about that.

Brownell continued, “They’ve just done an unbelievable job. Nate’s done a terrific job at Alabama. The way they’ve played and what they accomplished the last several years, remarkable. I know how hard it is.

“And their guys play with tremendous freedom and confidence against tremendous offensive swagger. They seem like they’ve gotten better defensively the longer the year’s gone, which we all hope we do. But I just think it’s a product of good coaching. And they’re playing their best basketball right now when it matters most.”

Alabama (24-11) doesn’t look like a team that is lacking motivation, but remembering its first of only two home losses this season can serve as that for the Tide this weekend.

“We’ll use whatever we can at this point, whatever we think resonates with our players,” head coach Nate Oats said. “But I think as a competitor if you’ve got some pride, you got embarrassed on your home court earlier in the year. And you’ve got a chance to redeem it on a neutral floor. I think that would be a little extra motivation for you right there.

“But Clemson’s also trying to make their first Final Four. I think they’ll be extra motivated. You can’t just rely on being motivated because the other team is going to be motivated too. We have to be locked in a scouting report, focused, detail-oriented – things we’ve been good here at the tournament maybe we lacked during the course of the year at different times.”

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