No. 4 Alabama (23-11) will keep dancing. The Crimson Tide knocked off the No. 12 Grand Canyon Lopes (30-5), 71-62, in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32.

The West Regional continues next week in Los Angeles. Here are our takeaways.

Mo Dioubate clinches it

Alabama nearly ran away with the game midway through the second half. It led by nine points and forced a GCU timeout. Five minutes and multiple turnovers later, Grand Canyon tied it and soon led with a couple of free throws. Then Mouhamed Dioubate checked in.

He grabbed two offensive rebounds off free throw attempts and scored eight straight points while GCU slumped into a two-plus minute scoreless stretch. Dioubate fought inside for hard lay-ups and locked down Tyon Grant-Foster as the Tide looked to close it out.

Dioubate scored all nine of his points down the stretch as Alabama’s bench continued to power its run.

Mark Sears was Alabama’s answer Sunday when the Tide needed a bucket or had to stop a run. Sears’ presence was elevated with Latrell Wrightsell Jr. reinjuring his head after a fall. Wrightsell missed a majority of the game after falling in the first half.

Sears produced 26 points and 12 rebounds, his first double-double of the year. He’s up to 732 points for the season — the school single-season record is Reggie King’s 747 set in 1979. Sears also broke King’s record with a 24th game scoring at least 20 points.

Meanwhile, Alabama tried to fluster GCU’s Tyon Grant-Foster. He rarely had a clean catch and when he started toward the paint, two UA jerseys swarmed him. Alabama was barely burned on double-teams but 17 of his 29 points came in the second half.

Referees stay active

It was a rock fight and teams with run-and-gun styles traded ugly turnovers and fouls. Alabama’s bench was called for two technical in the first half, the initial came after Nate Oats angered an official and argued for a call near halfcourt. The second was after Nick Pringle slammed a clipboard following what he thought was a missed call from the official.

GCU attempted 37 free throws to Alabama’s 22. During one stretch, the Lopes went multiple minutes without a clean field goal attempt, let alone a make, and only stayed in the game after getting to the line. Four Alabama players had three fouls heading into the final eight minutes. A drive by Grant-Foster resulted in an and-1 which tied the game at 55 apiece.

Overall, Jarin Stevenson fouled out. Rylan Griffen and Grant Nelson finished with four fouls apiece.

Familiar ground for the Tide

Alabama will return to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years under Oats. The Tide hasn’t made the third round of the tournament in back-to-back years since 1990-91.

The Tide’s prize for a pair of wins in Spokane? A couple of off days and a meeting against No. 1-seed North Carolina in Los Angeles. The Tide last played UNC in a thrilling 103-101 four-overtime loss in 2022. UA is expected to stay out west this week.