BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— No. 8 Alabama men’s basketball took down to No. 25 Illinois 100-87 on Wednesday night in the C.M. Newton Classic, giving the Fighting Illini its first loss of the young season.
The Crimson Tide earned a much-needed ranked win after taking its first loss of the season last game against now-No. 6 Purdue.
There’s so much to dissect from this matchup at Legacy Arena at BJCC. Here are three takeaways:
The Crimson Tide scored 100 points on Wednesday night but Preseason All-American point guard Mark Sears shockingly didn’t add any to the total. Additionally, Alabama center Clifford Omoruyi had six points in just 15 minutes of action due to foul trouble—an area he’s struggled in lately.
Throughout the offseason, Alabama was praised for its absurd amount of depth across the board, and with two crimson superstars struggling, the Tide’s rotation truly played the hero role.
Freshman guard Labaron Philon scored 16 points on 7-of-13 from the field, while also grabbing seven rebounds, a team-high nine assists, two steals and a block. His efforts as a consistent driver to the basket who displays aggressiveness have helped him gain a ton of recognition, meaning he may not be donning a crimson and white jersey next season…but obviously that conversation is far away.
Staying the backcourt, Auburn transfer guard Aden Holloway also stepped up on Wednesday night as he dropped a season-high 18 points on an electric 7-of-10 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. He found ways to get open quickly and often, which helped Alabama spread the floor even more than it already was.
It’s crucial to mention that Sears actually subbed himself out as the backcourt depth was on fire. This showed tremendous initiative and unselfish traits that are extremely hard to find in the sports world.
“He was great on the bench,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during the postgame press conference. “He was struggling. There’s a lot of pressure on him, obviously, being a home-state kid that came back. He’s the Preseason Player of the Year and he’s trying to do well. Teams are gearing their defense toward him. He had some good looks tonight, they just didn’t go. I took him out to kind of let him get his head together a little bit, and I tried to put him back in and he just said, ‘Look, they’re playing well.’”
Down low, a couple of Alabama players filled in for Omoruyi nicely, but offensive rebounds remain an issue as Illinois won that stat category 14-7. Freshman Aiden Sherrell, who only played for two minutes against Purdue after committing two fouls, made his presence known on both ends of the floor as he logged seven points while Illinois seemed to hesitate to shoot inside the paint when he was on the floor. Alabama freshman forward Derrion Reid also scored seven points but he showed a lot of defensive tenacity, versatility and athleticism not only down low but also up top.
While the two McDonald’s All-Americans in the frontcourt showed good signs for things to come against the Fighting Illini an argument could easily be made that one Alabama player over 6-foot-7 stood out from the rest of the team.
After a rough loss to Purdue, in which the Tide led for just 10 total minutes, Alabama needed a hot start against Illinois to quickly gain momentum against another ranked team. Forward Grant Nelson was the answer as he hit his first three attempts from behind the arc and Holloway and guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. each added one to give Alabama a 17-11 lead at the first media timeout.
Nelson also got things done in the paint during the first half as he amassed 19 points in 13 minutes of early action on a stellar 7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point land. His play lit a spark on the rest of the team as Alabama went up 52-38 at the break––two-thirds of the Tide’s final score against Purdue.
The Fighting Illini’s game plan seemed to shift more towards covering Nelson in the second half as he was limited in the scoring department, but his 23 points on 9-of-15 from the field on the night were one bucket shy of a new Alabama career-high.
“I owe it all to my teammates giving me confidence,” Nelson said during the postgame press conference. “We kind of knew how they were going to come out and guard me and some of the other fours and fives, so my teammates just gave me confidence all week. They passed me the ball early and easy, got the ball out of their hands quickly and it worked out.”
Alabama’s fast-paced high-volume three-point shooting offense has grown to be notorious around college basketball over the past couple of years. However, a big reason for the Tide’s loss to Purdue was that the Boilermakers slowed Alabama down early and never really let it speed things up.
That said, this was not the case on Wednesday evening as it was previously stated that Alabama started strongly and one of the best college basketball players in the nation didn’t score a single point. But unlike the Purdue game, the Tide just kept on rolling offensively until it reached the century mark.
Alabama converted on an efficient 39-of-75 makes from the field, including an 11-of-34 clip from deep, but it also nailed 11-of-13 attempts from the charity stripe––one of the Tide’s main struggles to start the season. Winning the turnover battle often determines the final score and this game was no different as Alabama committed just seven compared to Illinois’ 13, which led to 19 fastbreak points for the Tide compared to five for the opposition. The Crimson Tide’s 50 points in the paint vs. 50 outside of it also created some parity in the shot selection, which may have rattled Illinois a bit.
More specifically, Alabama’s fast-paced offense helped it score on 55.7 percent of possessions (79 possessions with 44 scores) compared to Illinois’ 51.3 percent (78 with 40). While these numbers may not seem too far apart, they made a huge difference in the outcome and the game overall as Alabama led for nearly 38 of the contest’s 40 minutes.
Oats credited Holloway as a major catalyst for Wednesday night’s offensive tempo.
“We didn’t play fast enough against Purdue,” Oats said. “One of the clips that we did play fast enough was [Holloway]. [Holloway] got downhill and scored a layup. We just said we want to keep the pace going. I think it’s easier to play fast when you’ve got three of those four guards in. I thought he pushed the pace tonight. He’s super skilled. I mean, he’s as good a shooter as I’ve ever coached.”
Alabama aims to stay the course with tonight’s performance for its next matchup against current No. 7 Houston, who also is in the process of rebounding from a surprising early loss.
