Mark Sears scored 24 points and No. 9 Alabama hung on for a 95-90 victory over Rutgers on Wednesday night at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
Alabama (6-1) survived a career-high 37 points from Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper and advanced to face Oregon in the championship game on Saturday. Rutgers (5-2) will play a to-be-determined opponent on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide’s Grant Nelson added 17 points and nine rebounds along with a key defensive stop on Harper down the stretch as Alabama struggled to protect its eight-point lead in the final minutes.
Jarin Stevenson, Derrion Reid and Mouhamed Dioubate contributed 10 points apiece for Alabama, which shot 51.7 percent from the floor and withstood 20 turnovers and 29 fouls.
Harper followed up his 36-point showing against Notre Dame on Tuesday by making 11 of 19 field-goal attempts along with 15 of 16 free throws. Ace Bailey added 22 for the Scarlet Knights, who shot 44.6 percent from the field and missed 11 of 13 3-point tries.
The Scarlet Knights survived Alabama making seven straight shots and took a 36-33 lead on a Bailey jumper with just under four minutes left in the first half. Alabama held Rutgers scoreless for the final two minutes of the period and the game was tied 41-41 at halftime after officials determined a jumper by Sears came after the buzzer.
Nelson’s three-point play and a putback basket by Clifford Omoruyi on consecutive trips pushed the lead to 67-59 with 12:28 remaining. However, Alabama could not pull away and Rutgers trailed just 80-78 following Harper’s three-point play with 7:16 left.
Alabama scored seven consecutive points for an 87-78 edge after a layup by Sears with 5:22 remaining. Rutgers got within 88-87 on Harper’s layup through traffic with 2:23 to go.
After the Crimson Tide were called for a shot-clock violation with 58 seconds left in a two-point game, Harper missed a contested layup around Nelson with 46 seconds left.
Following a timeout, Reid split two free throws with 18 seconds left for a 91-88 lead. Harper was called for a foul trying to pry the ball from Stevenson, who sank two free throws with 15 seconds to go. After another basket by Harper with five seconds left, Nelson sank two free throws to finally secure matters.
