NCAAB

Illinois Fighting Illini at Alabama Crimson Tide

· C.M. Newton Classic
Final
87 - 100
4-1, 3-0 Home

Nelson scores 23 to lead No. 8 Alabama past No. 25 Illinois, 100-87

Alabama's Aiden Sherrell gets way up for an alley-oop jam

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 of his shots, four of them 3-point attempts, and didn't return after heading to the bench with 11:27 left.

Takeaways Illinois: Fell 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: Rebounded strongly 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 capped the run while Illinois missed 11 straight shots.

The Tide went up by 18 points. Illinois sliced the deficit to eight in the second half but never got closer.

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

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

How can I watch Illinois vs. Alabama?

  • TV Channel: Illinois at Alabama 2021 College Basketball, week 3, is broadcasted on SEC Network.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo Free trial.
    Try Vidgo for free.

Matchup Prediction

Alabama: 60.6%
Illinois: 39.4%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Recent Plays

2nd 0:00 End of Game 87 - 100
2nd 0:00 End of 2nd half 87 - 100
2nd 0:13 Clifford Omoruyi Defensive Rebound. 87 - 100
2nd 0:18 Kylan Boswell missed Three Point Jumper. 87 - 100
2nd 0:23 Latrell Wrightsell Jr. made Free Throw. 87 - 100

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/356.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originILL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/333.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originALA
32-71 FG 39-75
45.1 Field Goal % 52.0
10-30 3PT 11-34
33.3 Three Point % 32.4
13-24 FT 11-13
54.2 Free Throw % 84.6
44 Rebounds 37
14 Offensive Rebounds 7
30 Defensive Rebounds 30
15 Assists 23
7 Steals 7
5 Blocks 6
13 Turnovers 7
1 Team Turnovers 0
13 Total Turnovers 7
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
10 Points Off Turnovers 18
5 Fast Break Points 19
38 Points in Paint 50
16 Fouls 17
3 Largest Lead 18

Game Information

Venue: Legacy Arena at BJCC

Location: Birmingham, AL
Attendance: 11,533 | Capacity:

2024-25 Big Ten Conference Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Michigan State 2-0 - 10-2
UCLA 2-0 - 10-2
Michigan 2-0 - 9-3
Oregon 1-1 1 11-1
Maryland 1-1 1 10-2
Penn State 1-1 1 10-2
Nebraska 1-1 1 9-2
Iowa 1-1 1 9-3
Northwestern 1-1 1 9-3
Indiana 1-1 1 9-3
Illinois 1-1 1 8-3
USC 1-1 1 9-4
Ohio State 1-1 1 8-4
Purdue 1-1 1 8-4
Rutgers 1-1 1 7-5
Wisconsin 0-2 2 10-3
Washington 0-2 2 8-4
Minnesota 0-2 2 7-5

2024-25 Southeastern Conference Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Florida 0-0 - 12-0
Oklahoma 0-0 - 12-0
Tennessee 0-0 - 12-0
Auburn 0-0 - 11-1
Georgia 0-0 - 11-1
Ole Miss 0-0 - 11-1
Mississippi State 0-0 - 11-1
Vanderbilt 0-0 - 11-1
Alabama 0-0 - 10-2
Arkansas 0-0 - 10-2
Kentucky 0-0 - 10-2
LSU 0-0 - 10-2
Missouri 0-0 - 10-2
Texas 0-0 - 10-2
Texas A&M 0-0 - 10-2
South Carolina 0-0 - 9-3
Full Standings