March Madness: Grant Nelson powers Alabama past No. 1 North Carolina to reach first Elite Eight since 2004

LOS ANGELES — North Carolina stalled out late on Thursday night, and Grant Nelson was there to take advantage.

Nelson absolutely dominated down the stretch, and came up with a huge block late, to lead Alabama to a huge 89-87 upset win over top-seeded North Carolina on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. That officially sent the Crimson Tide into their first Elite Eight since 2004.

The pace in the first half was ridiculously quick. The two teams combined for 100 points and they each shot better than 50% from the field in the first 20 minutes while going on stretches where they just traded bucket after bucket.

But it was the last stretch that North Carolina finally pulled out in front. After a Rylan Griffen 3-pointer with about 3:30 left in the half, Alabama went cold. The Crimson Tide managed just one made shot the rest of the way as the Tar Heels closed the half on an 11-2 burst to take an eight-point lead into the break. North Carolina made 10 3-pointers as a team in the first 20 minutes, too, thanks largely to very hot shooting from Cormac Ryan — who made four of his first five attempts from behind the arc.

Naturally, neither team could keep up with that pace. North Carolina missed its first 10 shots of the second half, six of which were taken from behind the arc, and they didn’t hit a field goal until Bacot powered in a layup nearly five minutes into the period. The Tar Heel went 2-of-18 from the field to start the half, and Bacot missed a wide open two-handed dunk that left him flustered on the court, which let Alabama right back in it.

The Crimson Tide seemed poised to run away with the win late, too, after Grant Nelson ripped off a solo 7-0 run capped with a huge 3-pointer that sent Hubert Davis rushing to call a timeout. But North Carolina responded with an 8-0 run of its own to jump back out in front slightly, before Nelson powered through an and-one layup to take a two-point lead right back.

North Carolina tried to respond, but then Nelson completely stuffed RJ Davis at the rim.

That led to another turnover and eventually gave the Crimson Tide the two-point win.

Bacot led North Carolina with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Ryan finished with 17 points, and Davis added 16 points and seven assists — though he went 0-of-9 from the 3-point line.

Nelson finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and he scored 12 of Alabama's last 14 points in the game while shooting 6-of-9 from the field. Aaron Estrada added 19 points, and Griffen finished with 19 points while shooting 5-of-8 from behind the arc.

Alabama will now take on Clemson in the Elite Eight on Saturday. The Tigers shut down Caleb Love and upset No. 2 Arizona in their Sweet 16 game earlier on Thursday night, which sent them into the Elite Eight for the first time since 1980.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.