Charleston Falls to Alabama in High-Octane NCAA First Round Contest
Miles McQuiggan
SPOKANE, Wash. (March 22, 2024) – Charleston scored the second-most points ever by a CAA team in the NCAA Tournament but ran into a hot-shooting night even by the standard of one of the nation’s top offenses, as No. 4 seed Alabama ended the 13-seed Cougars’ season in a 109-96 setback in the NCAA First Round.
Charleston (27-8) shot 41% and made 10 three-pointers, but Alabama (22-11) was 60% from the field and 13-of-23 (57%) from distance to create separation late in the first half and pull away after the intermission.
The Cougars led for 6:40 of the first half and stayed within striking distance thanks to 11 of Charleston’s 17 offensive rebounds coming before halftime. A pair of Alabama runs, including one late in the half, allowed the Crimson Tied to lead 51-34 at the break. Alabama’s lead would climb to 31 in the second half as the team rated third nationally in offensive efficiency shot 65% in the final 20 minutes and 6-of-10 from three.
Six Charleston players were in double figures, led by a 19-point effort from
Ben Burnham. Charleston held a 42-34 advantage on the glass with eight each from
Ante Brzovic and
James Scott and tallied 27 second-chance points.
Charleston’s 96 points were one shy of the CAA record in the NCAA Tournament; Navy scored 97 in a 1986 Second Round win at Syracuse. The 205 combined points shattered the previous high for total points in a CAA team’s NCAA Tournament game; George Mason and Indiana combined for 184 in a 1989 First Round game in Tucson.
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