Despite Caleb Love scoring a career-high 34 points, No. 1 North Carolina fell to No. 18 Alabama 103-101 in a wild quadruple-overtime contest that saw 15 lead changes in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational on Sunday in Portland, Ore.
According to ESPN, this was the first time ever that an AP No. 1 ranked team had played in a quadruple-overtime game. It was the first time UNC had played in such a game since 1976. Alabama beat a No. 1 team for the first time since 2004.
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Love shot 13 of 36 from the floor and also had nine rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Tar Heels (5-2).
With Alabama leading by one, Love lofted up a shot that was initially called for goaltending on the Tide’s Charles Bediako with 8.9 seconds left. After a review, officials determined it was not goaltending and changed the call to an inadvertent whistle, which meant possession of the ball would be determined by the arrow.
That gave possession to Alabama. Then the Tide and the Heels exchanged turnovers before Jaden Bradley was fouled and hit one of two free throws for the Crimson Tide (6-1). RJ Davis missed what would’ve been a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer for UNC.
It was the second straight loss for the Tar Heels.
Alabama was led by 24 points and five assists from Mark Sears. Bediako had 14 points and 16 rebounds, Brandon Miller had 14 points and seven boards and Noah Gurley added 13 points and six boards. Off the bench, Jahvon Quinerly had 21 points on 26 shots to go along with eight assists.
For the Heels, Armando Bacot added 20 points, 10 boards and three blocks, while Davis had 19 points, nine boards, four assists and three steals. Puff Johnson and Leaky Black each added 10 points. Black, Love and Davis each played more than 50 minutes.
Alabama took a seven-point lead midway through the first half with a 16-9 run that featured three assists and a jumper from Sears. The Tide led by three at intermission.
The Heels roared back in the second half, though, and eventually took an eight-point lead with a 12-2 run over the course of about three minutes. Bacot and Love each tallied four points during that stretch.
Alabama tied the game with 49 seconds to play in regulation and had the ball with 25 seconds left, but Quinerly missed the go-ahead jumper. The Tide again had a chance to score the go-ahead bucket in the first overtime, but Quinerly turned the ball over. And again, Alabama had the ball with the shot clock off at the end of the second overtime but saw Quinerly’s game-winning attempt blocked by Pete Nance.
UNC blocked 10 shots but allowed Alabama to shoot 42.1 percent (16 of 38) from behind the arc.
–Field Level Media
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