By Mark Heim
Charles Barkley knew what he said.
In fact, he said it twice, then explained to Ernie Johnson why he said it.
“I want to congratulate Alabama University on advancing,” Barkley said of the Tide’s 72-61 win over Grand Canyon on Sunday during the NCAA Tournament. “It was a heck of a game.”
Mark Sears had 26 points and 12 rebounds, Mouhamed Dioubate scored all nine of his points in the final 5 1/2 minutes, and fourth-seeded Alabama used a late surge to beat No. 12 seed Grand Canyon 72-61 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 10th time overall and third time in the last four seasons under coach Nate Oats. The Tide will face top-seeded North Carolina in the West Region semifinals in Los Angeles. Tyon Grant-Foster scored 29 points for Grand Canyon.
Barkley, who continues to call it like he sees it during the March Madness coverage, wasn’t so kind when breaking down Grand Canyon’s performance.
“Grand Canyon, that was the dumbest game of basketball I think I may have ever seen. Everybody went one-on-one,” he said. “They missed how many free throws? I’m not sure what they were doing offensively. I don’t think they ran a play the entire second half. … That was some of the dumbest basketball I’ve seen grown college men (play).”
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It wasn’t pretty to Barkley’s point. Grand Canyon was 23 of 37 from the free throw line and managed five assists to 14 turnovers for the game.
Meanwhile, Mark Sears finished with 26 pts, 12 rebounds and six assists to become the second player in Alabama history with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in an NCAA tournament game
“Sears was the only one who played with complete composure the entire game,” Barkley said. “Congratulations to Alabama University. It’s a great school. Nate Oats does a great job.”
It was at that point, Johnson jumped in.“Also known as the University of Alabama,” Johnson added.
“I do that to get to (PGA golfer) Justin Thomas. He hates when I say that,” Barkley quipped.
At the end, Barkley couldn’t get over Grand Canyon’s play.
“That was some of the worst decision you’ll ever see a college team make out there,” he said.
