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

Related Topics: North Carolina, Everson Griffen

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.