Arizona’s Glendale. (WBRC) – Saturday night in State Farm Arena in Glendale, Arizona, the Crimson Tide took on the reigning champion UConn Huskies in their first-ever Final Four encounter.
The Crimson Tide opened the score by doing what they do best, which is shoot the ball from downtown. After a great feed from Aaron Estrada on the left side of the court, Grant Nelson made the Crimson Tide’s first 3-point attempt of the game.
A few minutes into the game, UConn went on a 4-0 run to grab a 7-3 lead after Castle’s three. The two teams then exchanged possessions without a field goal. The Huskies offense continued to roll as they grabbed a 13-8 lead into the first media break. The Tide responded with a little run of their own.
But following the game’s first media break, the Tide did what they do best—they capitalized on an Aaron Estrada three-ball to start the scoring.
Following a foul committed by the Huskies and two successful free throws by Nick Pringle of the Tide, UConn extended their lead-retaking run. Pringle’s two free throws were the only points the Crimson Tide scored in a space of 2:30 as the Huskies went on a 10-point run (part of which came before the media break) to take a three-point lead, 28-25.
As the teams entered their third halftime media timeout knotted at 28, head coach of Alabama Nate Oats realized that his defense had.
Following the break, both the Huskies and the Crimson Tide had a cold stretch during which they each went several possessions without scoring a score.
Latrell Wrightsell Jr.’s second 3-pointer for Alabama put an end to the two teams’ losing skid. But Tristen Newton’s three-pointer at the other end of the court gave the Huskies an immediate response.
