Mark Sears’ Alabama basketball career began at a Subway in Ohio. He sat at the sandwich shop in Athens, Ohio in 2022 with then Crimson Tide assistant coach Antoine Pettway to tell all the other schools that had been trying to recruit him that he was leaving Ohio University and going home.

Sears is the first player in NCAA Tournament history to make eight 3-pointers and record at least seven assists. Before Thursday's performance by Sears, five players had double-digit 3-point makes ...