Latrell Wrightsell scored 24 points and fourth-seeded Alabama unleashed a relentless 3-point attack in blowing out No. 5 Texas Tech 90-65 in the NCAA Tournament’s second round Sunday night in Tampa, Fla.

Houston Mallette scored all 15 of his points on 3s, Amari Allen had 12 points despite missing his four 3-point attempts and Aiden Sherrell had 10 points. Labaron Philon Jr. contributed nine points and a career-high 12 assists.

Alabama (25-9) meets top-seeded Michigan in the Sweet 16 on Friday night in the Midwest Region at Chicago.

LeJuan Watts’ 16 points and seven rebounds led Texas Tech (23-11), while Donovan Atwell provided 12 points and Leon Horner had 10. The Red Raiders lost four of their final five games, with a once-promising season veering off track after the loss of star JT Toppin to a season-ending injury.

The Crimson Tide led 90-56 with 4:41 remaining and didn’t score again. Substitutes helped finish the job for Alabama in a game that concluded after midnight.

Led by Wrightsell’s six 3-pointers on nine attempts, Alabama made 19 of 42 shots from 3-point spots (45.2%) compared to Texas Tech’s 4-for-25 shooting from long range (16%).

The Crimson Tide also controlled the boards to the tune of 47-35.

In two tournament games, Alabama didn’t look bothered by playing without suspended guard Aden Holloway, the team’s second-leading scorer. The Crimson Tide reached the 90-point level in both games, speeding past Hofstra on Friday.

Alabama, fueled by a 13-2 spurt, held a 49-25 halftime lead with seven different players hitting at least one 3-pointer. The Crimson Tide were 6-for-12 on two-point attempts as they relied almost exclusively on perimeter shooting.

The 49 points were the most scored in the first half in any NCAA Tournament second-round game this weekend.

Alabama made 11 shots from 3-point range in the first half, while Texas Tech shot 2-for-13 on first-half 3-point attempts

–Field Level Media

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz took a surprising defeat to 32nd-seeded American Sebastian Korda, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in third-round action of the Miami Open on Sunday in Miami Gardens Fla.

Korda, who was 1-4 all-time against Alcaraz with the win coming in 2022 before the Spaniard won his first grand slam, was sensational on his serve, smashing 12 aces while committing no double faults. He had more winners than Alcaraz (33-30), won more service points (63% to 62%) and saved three of five break points while Alcaraz saved two of five.

“It was a lot of tense moments, for sure. But I think today the ultimate thing was belief, going back to just believing, committing in every shot. Luckily, I got it done at the end,” Korda said in his news conference.

It appeared Korda could be headed for a straight-set win when he led 5-3 in the second set, but Alcaraz won the ensuing four games, including his only breaks of the match, to force a third set.

Korda got the decisive break at 3-3 in the final set and finished off the match in his next two service games.

“(Sebastian) was incredible today,” Alcaraz said. “Played such a great game. A lot of tight, tight moments that I just didn’t make the most of it. I think he was better on those points, on those moments. I would say that was the key of the match.”

Alcaraz, who started the calendar year with 12 straight wins, is 5-2 since and failed to make the Round of 16 at Miami for the second straight year.

Of the eight third-round matches contested Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, the other seeded competitor to fall was No. 14 Karen Khachanov of Russia, who fell 6-3, 7-6 (2) to Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce.

Khachanov had more than double as many unforced errors (26) as winners (12), facing eight break points and saving four of them. Landaluce, 20, is through to the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time. He’ll face the 21-year-old Korda next for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Along with Korda, two other seeded Americans took care of business Sunday. No. 6 Taylor Fritz disposed of fellow American Reilly Opelka 6-3, 6-4 in 63 minutes, and No. 22 Tommy Paul outlasted Belgium’s Raphael Collignon for a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) win in 140 minutes.

Czech No. 21 seed Jiri Lehecka (6-3, 7-6 (6) over Ethan Quinn), No. 24 Valentin Vacherot of Poland (7-6 (5), 6-4 over Italy’s Matteo Berrettini), French 28th-seed Arthur Fils (6-0, 6-1 over Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas) and No. 29 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina (7-5, 6-4 over Spain’s Rafael Jodar) each advanced into the fourth round with straight-set victories.

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Clippers will welcome an old friend back into town Monday when former head coach Doc Rivers and his current team, the Milwaukee Bucks, make a visit to Inglewood, Calif.

As the Clippers try to nail down a favorable spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament, the Bucks are making a last-gasp effort to become play-in eligible with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

Los Angeles (35-36) is heading home after ending a four-game losing streak with a 138-131 overtime victory on the road against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. Darius Garland stepped up in his best game for the Clippers, scoring 41 points with 11 assists.

Garland, who has played in nine games for Los Angeles, including seven starts, is averaging 21.4 points with 7.0 assists for his new team after arriving in a trade-deadline deal from the Cleveland Cavaliers. James Harden was traded to Cleveland in the transaction.

Even with his production, Garland was just as pleased to see teammate Kawhi Leonard deliver 34 points on 12-of-22 shooting, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range.

“Yeah, it was pretty cool to see him go to work,” Garland said of Leonard, who scored 13 points in the third quarter when the Clippers outscored the Mavericks 37-27 as they rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit. “I just wanted him to get some catch-and-shoot opportunities, and he got a couple to get us going. Overall, it was a good team win.”

Los Angeles shot 56.7% from the floor and went 21 of 42 from 3-point range, including 9 of 19 in the second half and 4 of 6 in the decisive overtime period. Leonard scored seven points in OT.

The Bucks (29-41) lost six of seven games before pulling off a 108-105 road victory over the postseason-eligible Phoenix Suns on Saturday. Ryan Rollins scored 26 points with 10 rebounds, including four points in the final 23.8 seconds to seal the victory.

The Bucks, who are 7 1/2 games out of the final play-in spot, not only were playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) for the third consecutive game, they also lost Kyle Kuzma in the third quarter because of right Achilles tendon tightness. Kuzma finished with 20 points before departing.

Kuzma scored 17 points in the first half as Milwaukee scored 42 points in the second quarter as a team and rallied from a 13-point deficit to take a 57-52 lead at halftime.

“I just thought it was a team win; everybody pitched in,” Rivers said. “Kuzma had a fantastic first half and I thought (Rollins) was consistent. It was funny, Ryan started out in the beginning of the game struggling a little bit. We took him out, brought him back in and I thought he played terrifically.”

Rollins is scoring a career-best 16.9 points per game, while also reaching career highs in games played (68) and starts (61).

Monday’s game will be the first between the teams this season. They will also meet March 29 at Milwaukee.

The Bucks have won five of the last six games over the Clippers during the past three seasons, with the only loss coming in their first game at Los Angeles’ new arena last season.

–Field Level Media