Alabama basketball falls to Duke in the Elite Eight: 3 Takeaways

Sometimes, you run into a buzzaw. Alabama basketball was able to avoid that until the Final Four last season against UConn. This year, it happened a round earlier against an elite Duke team in the Elite Eight.

A usually elite Alabama offense was perplexed against the length of the Blue Devils. With 8:03 to go in the game, a pair of Labaron Philon free throws cut the Duke lead to 65-58. Alabama then didn't score again until Mark Sears hit a free throw with 2:47 to play in the game, when the Blue Devils' lead had ballooned to 20 points.

It was a tough night for Sears in his final game in an Alabama uniform. Fresh off of a monster game against BYU in the Sweet 16, Sears shot just 2-of-12 from the field and scored six points. Duke's length caused him a lot of problems, in particular.

After a record-setting 25-of-51 from three against the Cougars on Thursday, Alabama shot just 8-of-32 from deep against Duke. The open shots that were there against BYU weren't there against Duke. They were able to run Alabama off the three-point line while also controlling the paint with Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach.

It was Alabama's second-lowest scoring output of the season. They scored 64 points in a 10-point home loss to Ole Miss in January.

In the end, the better team won. The Blue Devils are the No. 1 team in the history of KenPom and should be considered the favorite to win the whole thing.

3 Takeaways from Alabama's Elite Eight loss to Duke

3. Alabama's defense on Cooper Flagg was strong - Duke just had too many weapons

Alabama held Flagg to 16 points on 16 shot attempts. His playmaking was limited with only three assists and both Grant Nelson and Mo Dioubate had a couple of highlight-reel blocked shots.

Alabama's big problem was Kon Knueppel (21-5-5) and Maluach (14-9-2). Alabama's guards had trouble staying in front of Knueppel and then Maluach's length on both ends was tough to deal with at the rim. He caught a ton of alley-oops for easy dunks and then defended the rim at an elite level, as he has done for most of the season.

Tyrese Proctor also scored 17 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting. The backcourt in this game was a mismatch, more to do with size than skill.

2. Too many missed opportunities for Alabama

One big sequence in the first half sticks out. A couple of Nelson dunks cut Duke's lead to 37-31 and the momentum seemingly had swung toward Alabama. The Tide got the stop it needed with a missed shot by Flagg near the bucket, but then Sears and Derrion Reid fumbled the ball and allowd Maliq Brown to come down with an offensive rebound, which led to a kickout three by Caleb Foster to push the Duke lead back to nine.

Every time it appeared Alabama had any shred of momentum, something like that happened.

In the second half, from 15:24 to 12:44, Alabama held Duke to just two points. Unfortunately, the Crimson Tide also only scored two points, allowing the Blue Devils to keep an eight-point lead.

Chris Youngblood, Sears, and Holloway all missed open three-pointers during that span that could have actually given the Crimson Tide a lead. Against a team as good as Duke, you simply cannot miss the opportunities that they give you.

1. This season is not, in any way, a disappointment

Losing tonight was disappointing. No doubt. But when that sting wears off, and it will, this team should be remembered fondly. I know expectations under Nate Oats have skyrocketed, and this team came in with higher expectations that perhaps any in school history, but it cannot be forgotten how special this season has been in the grand scheme of the program's history.

Alabama's win over BYU was just the third win for the Tide in the Sweet 16, ever. This game against Duke was the third Elite Eight game in program history. Making it to a Final Four and Elite Eight in back-to-back seasons - with a No. 1 overall seed the year before that - makes this the single best three year run in school history.

Don't let momentary frustration and disappointment from this loss make you forget that. This was still one of the best teams in program history. Sometimes you run into the buzzsaw, and that's what happened to Alabama on Saturday night.