Alabama 100-87 Illinois (Nov 20, 2024) Game Summary

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — — Grant Nelson scored 23 points and Aden Holloway had 18 to lead No. 8 Alabama for a 100-87 victory over No. 25 Illinois on Wednesday night in a matchup of Elite Eight teams from last season at Legacy Arena.

Freshman Labaron Philon had 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to help the Crimson Tide (4-1) overcome a scoreless night from preseason All-American Mark Sears.

Latrell Wrightsell Jr. also had 16 points for Alabama. Nelson opened the game with three straight 3-pointers.

Will Riley led Illinois (3-1) with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Kylan Boswell added 17 and Kasparas Jakucionis had 15. Tomislav Ivisic had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Sears missed all five shots, four of them 3-point attempts, and did not return after heading to the bench with 11:27 left.

Takeaways

Illinois: Dropped to 17-19 in Top 25 matchups since the start of the 2019-20 season. The Illini had their first tough test of the season after three double-digit wins.

Alabama: Bounced back strong from an 87-78 loss at No. 6 Purdue to get a win that should look good on the NCAA Tournament resume. Made four straight 3s and five of six to open the game.

Key moment

Alabama scored 13 straight points midway through the first half to build a 36-19 lead. Clifford Omoruyi’s layup ended the run as Illinois missed 11 straight shots.

The tide rose by 18 points. Illinois cut the deficit to eight in the second half, but never got closer.

Key state

Alabama made 11 of 13 free throws (84.6%). Illinois was just 13 of 24 (54.2%).

Next

Illinois hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday; Alabama meets No. 7 Houston next Tuesday in Las Vegas.

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