The BYU basketball season came to an end on Thursday when Alabama eliminated BYU in the Sweet 16. The Cougars exceeded expectations in year one under Kevin Youn

Newark, NJ• The BYU Cougars knew they needed to hit threes to keep up. They couldn’t have guessed how many.The Alabama Crimson Tide set an NCAA Tournament record with 25 made 3-pointers en route to beating BYU 113-88 in Thursday night’s Sweet 16 matchup.

The No. 6 seed BYU Cougars (26-9) and the No. 2 seed Alabama Crimson Tide (27-8) will meet on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

Demin saw his draft stock slip this year, but he has been the catalyst for the Cougars in this NCAA Tournament.

College sports has become little more than a game of mercenaries, a constant coming and going of hired guns who wear a school’s jersey long enough to collect an NIL check and then move on to the next highest bidder. Just look at what’s happening in the ongoing NCAA Tournament.

So egregious was their resistance in that regard, it helped the Crimson Tide, as Young alluded to, set an NCAA Tournament single-game record for made deep balls (25 of 51). Some of that was straight due to great shot-making. But the Cougars’ lapses gave ‘Bama shooters full license to feel like they were channeling Steph Freaking Curry.

Alabama broke the 35-year-old NCAA Tournament record for 3-pointers with 25, a relentless spree that ushered the second-seeded Crimson Tide past BYU 113-88 on Thursday night.

Alabama came into the BYU game with 6-of-21 and 7-of-17 shooting from distance in a pair of NCAA tourney wins. As the No. 1 2-point shooting team, Young’s staff emphasized stopping that aspect of Alabama’s attack and analytically believed a struggling Mark Sears and Company would cool off. They never did, and Sears made 10 treys.