Entering the week, Nate Oats told his players they were in a four-team tournament, urging them to focus on advancing past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament before worrying about future matchups. After surviving a first-round scare against No. 15 seed Robert Morris, No. 2 seed Alabama is a win away from accomplishing that goal as it takes on No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s for a trip to the Sweet 16.

Alabama (26-8) is looking to make its third straight Sweet 16 appearance, while Saint Mary’s (29-5) hasn’t advanced past the second round of the tournament since 2010.

Here’s everything you need to know about Sunday’s matchup.

Who: No. 2 seed Alabama (26-8) vs. No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s (29-5)

When: 5:10 p.m. CT Sunday, March 23

Where: Rocket Arena, Cleveland, Ohio

Watch: TNT (Play-By-Play: Spero Dedes, Analyst: Jim Spanarkel, Sideline: Jon Rothstein)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 18.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 5.1 apg, 40.4% FG, 33.5% 3-pt

Chris Youngblood: 6-foot-4, 223 pounds, freshman

Stats: 9.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.0 apg, 43.4% FG, 37.6% 3-pt

Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 10.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.7 apg, 45.6% FG, 30.1% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

Stats: 11.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.6 apg, 53.0% FG, 27.4% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 0.8 apg, 75.0% FG

Augustas Marciulionis: 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, senior

Stats: 14.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 6.0 apg, 45.1% FG, 34.7% 3-pt

Jordan Ross: 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 8.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 38.7% FG, 30.0% 3-pt

Luke Barrett: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, redshirt senior

Stats: 9.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.4 apg, 45.9% FG, 28.5% 3-pt

Paulis Murauskas: 6-foot-8, 235 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 12.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 45.1% FG, 29.4% 3-pt

Mitchell Saxen: 6-foot-10, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 10.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, 54.4% FG, 50.0% 3-pt

Mark Sears’ streaky season has taken another dip. Over his last five games, Alabama’s leading scorer has lost his touch from beyond the arc, hitting just 5 of 31 (16.1%) of his 3-point attempts.

Sears has seen slumps like this before. The graduate guard went 9 of 38 from deep during a six-game stretch in non-conference play. However, this latest spell seems different to his head coach.

“Listen, I've got a lot of respect for Mark late in the year this year because there's times during the past with his shooting slump, he would have been ready to kind of feel sorry for himself, not fight through it,” Oats said Saturday. “Well, I think he's done an unbelievable job showing how competitive he is, how much he wants to win, how tough he is mentally because yeah, he's not making shots at the level that he's used to.”

Sears didn’t let his shooting slump slow him down during Alabama’s first-round win over Robert Morris. Despite shooting 5 of 12 from the floor and 1 of 5 from deep, he led the Tide with 22 points, getting to the free-throw line where he made 11 of 13 attempts. More importantly, he played the role of facilitator, spreading the ball out for a team-high 10 assists while only committing three turnovers.

Oats says he’ll take that production every time, regardless of how Sears is shooting.

“I thought it was a pretty impressive night for him. We need him to keep doing the same thing because there's no guarantee. We've tried to build this team with the expectation there's no guarantee that we shoot the ball at a high level.”

“We've got to build the team to win when three-point shots aren't dropping, him getting downhill, getting to the free-throw line, distributing the ball to our bigs, I think was big, and it's what we need to keep doing.”

That being said, Alabama is confident Sears will regain his shooting stroke soon.

Oats has to stop himself when referring to Saint Mary’s point guard Augustus Marciulionis.

“Yeah, every time I think of Marciulionis, I think of Sarunas,” Oats said, referring to Augustus’ father, who played seven seasons in the NBA. “... His dad was really good. I loved watching his dad play. He could really shoot. He's crafty. He's skilled. He's tough. I loved watching him play.”

Those qualities also describe Augustus, who leads Saint Mary’s averaging 14.3 points, 6.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Those numbers are especially impressive considering the Gaels rank No. 360 out of 364 Division I teams in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom.com.

“If Marciulionis played in our pace, he'd probably score more points, but he's very good at what they need him to do,” said Oats, whose Alabama team runs the fastest tempo in the nation. “He finds those bigs on rolls. He carves you up in your pick-and-roll coverage. We're talking about what pick-and-roll coverage to play on him. There's no great pick-and-roll coverage for him because whatever you use against him, he's going to exploit it to some point.

“He's smart. He's tough. He's crafty. He hits big shots in big games for them, and he knows how to run their team, and it's hard to get him out of his rhythm.

Marciulionis recorded 14 points and eight rebounds while shooting 5 of 9 from the floor and 2 of 6 from deep during Saint Mary’s first-round win over Vanderbilt. Over his last four games, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard is averaging 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

“You can tell he probably grew up watching a lot of basketball, watching his dad and all the NBA players play,” Oats said. “I don't know the kid at all. I've watched him on film, and I have a bunch of respect for him. I think he's a really good player."

— Alabama is looking to advance to its third straight Sweet 16 appearance for the first time in program history.

— Alabama has scored 90 points or more in 19 games this season, the most by any team in Division I.

— Sears recorded 10 assists in Alabama’s 90-81 win over Robert Morris. The Tide is now 11-0 when the starting point guard records seven or more assists in his three seasons with the team.

— Saint Mary's ranks No. 1 in Division I in rebound margin (+10.8) and ranks No. 11 in offensive rebounds (13.9).

— The Gaels allow 60.5 ppg, which ranks No. 4 in Division I

— Marciulionis ranks No. 17 in the country in assists per game (6.0).

— Saint Mary's is 24-0 this season when they score 70 points or more.