Alabama’s gauntlet schedule added another chapter Saturday. Perhaps the most difficult of all.

The Crimson Tide had its nonconference and conference schedules littered with the nation’s best teams all year. Then, it reached its zenith in the Elite Eight in the form of the Duke Blue Devils.

Facing what might be the best team in the country with arguably the nation’s top player in Cooper Flagg, Alabama’s season came to an end.

No. 1 seed Duke defeated No. 2 seed Alabama 85-65 in the Elite Eight at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Here are three takeaways from the game between the Crimson Tide (28-9) and the Blue Devils (35-3).

Alabama offense returns to earth and struggles

You knew the offense that showed up in the Sweet 16 probably wasn’t going to put together a repeat performance against Duke.

Part of that’s because the performance against BYU with 25 triples was historic. The other piece? Duke’s elite defense.

It showed early and often. Duke contested shot after shot, making life difficult for the Crimson Tide. Alabama seldom had much space with which to work. The Blue Devils didn’t give many open looks whatsoever. Duke’s length gave Alabama fits at times.

The Crimson Tide looked stunned at first, averaging only .625 points per possession at the first timeout. Alabama improved from there, increasing to 1.057 by halftime, but it still never looked like an offense in rhythm.

There was no aerial attack from beyond the arc like last game. By halftime, Sears only attempted two triples and missed both. Aden Holloway went 1-for-3 and Youngblood was 1-for-2. Aiden Sherrell had the most 3-point attempts (four) of any player at the break.

Alabama has proved it doesn’t need triples to fall at a high clip to win, so long as it can do work at the rim. The problem was, shots in the paint also faced plenty of obstacles, proving even tougher than from beyond the arc.

When Alabama did get shots off, which wasn’t as often, they didn’t fall at the rate the Crimson Tide needed to pull off the upset.

The issues only became worse in the second half. Alabama had a period of more than five minutes without a single point. Shots after shot just wouldn’t fall. The Crimson Tide shot 9 for 30 from the field in the second half and 23 for 65 (35%).

Sears especially struggled. His final game in a Crimson Tide uniform saw his impact limited profoundly. He finished with six points as he went 2 for 12 from the field and 1 for 5 from beyond the arc.

Tide needed close to perfect game but didn’t get it

An above average effort wasn’t going to get it done against a team of that caliber. Alabama didn’t have much margin for error. Really, there was none.

So, mistakes from the Crimson Tide proved killer in ways they wouldn’t against most teams.

Case in point: With about 3:30 left in the first half, Grant Nelson dunked to bring Alabama within 37-31. Finally, a two-possession game for the first time since the opening minutes. Then on the ensuing Duke possession, Cooper Flagg missed a layup.

Alabama looked prime to secure the ensuing rebound. But then Derrion Reid, who played some good defense at times, couldn’t corral it. Maliq Brown grabbed the offensive rebound instead. Four seconds later, Caleb Foster drained a triple to extend the Duke lead to 40-31.

Alabama didn’t cough up turnovers at a high clip like some games this season. Duke actually had more turnovers with 13 to Alabama’s 11. But any the Crimson Tide did have hurt more than normal.

Cooper Flagg’s supporting cast makes the difference

The NBA Draft’s likely No. 1 overall pick didn’t take over the game on the scoreboard. In fact, Alabama even denied him a handful of times. Both Grant Nelson and Mouhamed Dioubate each blocked a shot in impressive fashion.

Sure, Flagg made plays. But it wasn’t him always hitting shots. Alabama found ways to limit his scoring impact, relatively. He finished with 16 points (6 for 16) and one triple with nine rebounds.

The problem: Duke just had too many other weapons who could make Alabama pay for defensive lapses or mistakes.

Kon Knueppel. Tyrese Proctor. Khaman Maluach. Each gave Alabama problems in different ways, and each made shots. All scored in double figures. Knueppel led all scorers with 21.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for Follow him on X and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.