Mark Sears was held to six points and Alabama followed an NCAA Tournament-record 25 3-pointers with only eight, dooming its shot at a second straight Final Four in an 85-65 loss to Duke in the East Region final.

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.

Alabama broke the 35-year-old March Madness record for 3-pointers with 25 and Mark Sears scored 30 of his 34 points on 3s in an 113-88 victory over BYU in an NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal.

Led by Mark Sears, Alabama broke the 35-year-old record for 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game, making 25 in a 113-88 victory over BYU in an East Region semifinal.

Nearly every year there’s at least one lovable underdog that rises from obscurity in the NCAA Tournament to capture the hearts of basketball fans and bust their brackets.

If there’s a single player Duke or any of its fans would love to not run into when the stakes are this high, Caleb Love would be that player.

Alabama thundered past Saint Mary’s 80-66 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

All-America guard Mark Sears scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and second-seeded Alabama pulled away late to escape 15th-seeded Robert Morris 90-81 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Johni Broome of Auburn and Cooper Flagg of Duke are unanimous first-team selections for The Associated Press men's college basketball All-America team.

The SEC was the best conference in basketball all season, landing a record 14 teams in the 68-team NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA selection committee will have some juggling to do before the bracket comes out Sunday to keep March Madness from looking like an extension of the Southeastern Conference’s regular season.

Duke has ended Auburn’s eight-week stay at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll.

Alex Condon had 27 points and10 rebounds to lead No. 5 Florida to a 99-94 win over No. 7 Alabama on Wednesday night.

Michigan's Danny Wolf moves with the freedom of a guard in a 7-footer’s body, bursting off screens for catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, beating defenders off the dribble, using his vision to find open teammates over smaller players.

Jahmai Mashack raced up the court and hit a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc at the buzzer to give No. 5 Tennessee a 79-76 victory over No. 6 Alabama on Saturday.

Auburn and Alabama had never played as top-10 teams.

Johni Broome had 19 points and 14 rebounds and five teammates scored in double figures as No. 1 Auburn beat in-state rival and second-ranked Alabama 94-85 on Saturday in a matchup of top-ranked teams.

Alabama's Mark Sears and North Carolina's RJ Davis headline The Associated Press preseason All-America men's basketball team.

Kansas is No. 1 in the AP Top 25 preseason men's basketball poll ahead of Alabama and two-time defending national champion UConn.

UConn forward Alex Karaban is returning to school for a try at a third straight national title.

Alabama got the kind of game it wanted in its first Final Four appearance.

In the 15 minutes before Alabama makes its first Final Four appearance in school history, there probably won’t be many warm and fuzzy moments in the locker room.

Mark Sears hit seven 3-pointers and Alabama recovered from its early long-distance shooting woes to beat Clemson 89-82 and reach the Final Four for the first time.

Purdue big man Zach Edey is an unanimous first-team All-American for The Associated Press for the second straight season.

Zach Edey matched his season high with 35 points in his hometown, Braden Smith had a season-high 27 points and No. 4 Purdue rallied to beat Alabama 92-86 on Saturday.

Brandon Miller scored 24 points and Mark Sears made 7 of 8 free throws over the final 1:04 to help No. 2 Alabama secure an 86-83 victory over Arkansas.

The holiday break is usually a quiet time in college basketball, many of the top teams playing small-conference schools at home or taking extra time off before conference schedules start in full.

No. 8 Alabama rallied from a 15-point second half deficit to stun No. 1 Houston 71-65.

Mark Sears had 24 points, five rebounds and five assists, and No. 18 Alabama sent top-ranked North Carolina to a second straight loss with a 103-101 in a quadruple-overtime thriller in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational tournament.