Alabama jumped out early on, scoring a dominant 30 points over the first nine minutes of the game and mostly keeping that pressure on the Fighting Illini throughout. Though the Tide did have a couple of mini-droughts in the second half, they still put up 100 points while shooting 52% from the field and only giving up 7 turnovers. Just a great offensive showing all around.
Mark Sears had probably the worst game of his basketball career, scoring no points and just having an awful day, but Aden Holloway and LaBaron Philon stepped up at guard, combining for 34 points and 11 assists. Grant Nelson also had a dominant day, leading the team with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.
It’s great to see Alabama still being able to put up a 100 points even with their best player being totally invisible, and it’s even more impressive that they did it against a team that was just in the Elite 8 last spring.
The defense wasn’t great, but a lot of Illinois’ scoring was on a high volume of 3-pointers and hitting 35% of them, so you can’t complain too much.
All in all, a great mid-week win for Alabama, and one that the team can build on throughout the year.
Roll Tide!
