Sears dribbled down court, bullied his way into the key for a point-blank, straight- on chip shot—and missed it, adding to a frustrating evening that saw him shoot just 2-12 from the field with a single three-pointer (forget about double-digits). With that miss, Alabama was done for.

The 2025 men's NCAA Tournament is playing out to form with seven of the top-8 seeds advancing from the Sweet Sixteen to the Elite Eight this weekend. College basketabll matchups, odds, stats, profiles,

Alabama basketball and Duke faced off in the Elite Eight of March Madness on Saturday. Here are three takeaways from the game that ended the Crimson Tide's season and sent the Blue Devils to the Final Four.

Mark Sears shot a free throw late in the second half that could have cut Alabama's deficit to 10 — a last-gasp effort at a comeback still within reach — and watched the ball clang off the back rim. Even the supposed gimmes weren’t automatic for Sears on this night.

The men's Elite Eight game between Duke and Alabama will air on both TBS and truTV. It will also stream on Max and on the March Madness Live app. The men's Elite Eight game between Duke and Alabama is scheduled to tip off at 8:49 p.m. ET, which is 5:49 p.m. PT.

Alabama has chipped into Duke's lead over the first four minutes of the second half. Grant Nelson blocked a Cooper Flagg dunk and Mark Sears hit a 3-pointer. Duke leads 52-45 at the under-16 timeout with Alabama's Chris Youngblood looking to cap an and-one after the TV timeout.

Duke’s stream of NBA-ready standouts used smothering defense and other options on offense to paper over Cooper Flagg’s rough shooting night and lift the Blue Devils to the program’s 18th Final Four with an 85-65 victory over Alabama.

For the 18th time in program history and the first time under head coach Jon Scheyer, the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils will play in the Final Four after they ousted No. 2 Alabama on Saturday night.

Maybe someone will stop Duke before this college basketball season comes to a close at next week’s Final Four. That time was not Saturday night.