Alabama Earns First Ranked Win in Shooting Contest Against Illinois

Birmingham, AL. - The Alabama Crimson Tide returned to its home state following its first loss of the season to the Purdue Boilermakers. The Crimson Tide may have left Big 10 country but still had to play a team from the Big 10 in the No. 25 Illinois Fighting Illini.

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Alabama opened the game playing with an otherworldly pace of play, and could not miss from three to start the game. less than three minutes into the contest, Grant Nelson had shot, and made, three three-point shots to give himself nine early points in the game. Nelson continued his positive momentum not only on the scoring side but defensively as well.

Uncharacteristic shooting from Mark Sears would have killed Alabama offensively in games past, but in this game, Alabama was able to overcome a historically bad night from Sears, who did not score any points tonight.

Additionally, Sears did not play in the Crimson Tide's closing lineup on Wednesday night.

Alabama saw a correction in every area that they needed to in this game.

Turnovers? Alabama only had 7 to Illinois's 13
Points of Turnovers? The Crimson Tide had 18 while the Fighting Illini had 10
Bench Points? Alabama had 39
Points in the Paint? The Crimson Tide scored 39

This looked like the Alabama Basketball team many people picked No. 1 or No. 2 in the country in the preseason. What contributed to the drastic change in the Crimson Tide tonight?

Part of it was due to the starting rotation. Alabama started Mark Sears, Labaron Philon, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Grant Nelson, and Clifford Omoruyi, a lineup that many fans wanted to see following clear struggles from Alabama when inserting a primarily "big" lineup in the game.

Alabama also saw contributions from its star freshman - Labaron Philon. Philon was projected as the No. 24 overall pick in Bleacher Report's most recent NBA mock draft, incredibly high praise for a freshman who has only played five college basketball games. Philon only added to his draft stock on Wednesday night, as he seemed to be everywhere on the court for Alabama with visible effort and hunting for blue-collar points. Philon ended the game with 16 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, one block, and two steals.

The Crimson Tide were able to put the game on ice without Mark Sears, with Aden Holloway and Labaron Philon closing out a 100-87 win for Alabama.

Stat Leaders

Points: Grant Nelson - 23
Assists: Labaron Philon - 9
Rebounds: Grant Nelson - 8

Alabama Players in Double Digit Points

Grant Nelson - 23
Aden Holloway - 18
Labaron Philon - 16
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. - 16

The Crimson Tide's next game may be its toughest one yet, traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada for The Player's Era Festival. Alabama's first game will be against the No. 7 Houston Cougars on Tuesday, November 26.