No. 8 Alabama defeats No. 25 Illinois 100-87
Alabama forward Jarin Stevenson (15) dunks the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Illinois, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Birmingham, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Grant Nelson scored 23 points and Aden Holloway had 18 to lead No. 8 Alabama to a 100-87 win 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 of his shots, four of them 3-point attempts, and didn’t return after heading to the bench with 11:27 left.
NO. 3 GONZAGA 84, LONG BEACH STATE 41
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Graham Ike and Khalif Battle each had 15 points as No. 3 Gonzaga routed Long Beach State.
Ryan Nembhard added 10 points and seven assists for the Bulldogs (5-0), who have opened with five straight wins for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
Gonzaga’s bench provided 32 points, including 12 from Braden Huff and 10 from Dusty Stromer. Huff has scored in double figures in every outing this season.
Long Beach State’s leading scorer, Devin Askew, had 12 points. The senior was averaging 17.3 per game.
NO. 23 TEXAS A&M 71, SOUTHERN 54
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Wade Taylor IV scored 17 points and fellow guard Zhuric Phelps added 16 as No. 23 Texas A&M erased a 16-point deficit in a victory over Southern.
The slow-starting Aggies (4-1) shot 23% from the field in the first half (8 for 35) and fell behind 39-25 at the break. Texas A&M used a 19-0 run midway through the second half to repel Southern’s upset bid and outscored the Jaguars 46-15 in the final 20 minutes.
Jordan Johnson had 19 points for Southern (1-4). He helped the Jaguars build their big early lead by hitting a trio of 3-pointers in the first half.
NO. 24 RUTGERS 74, MERRIMACK 63
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Freshman Ace Bailey scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead No. 24 Rutgers to a win over Merrimack.
It was the second straight wire-to-wire win for Rutgers (4-0). The Scarlet Knights beat Monmouth 98-81 on Friday.
Freshman Dylan Harper added 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Rutgers.
Adam Clark led Merrimack (1-3) with 22 points and six assists, and Sean Trumper added 10 points.
Rutgers was 7 of 17 from beyond the arc (41%). Merrimack was just 4 of 24 from 3-point range (17%).
Merrimack got to within 65-58 with 2:53 to go, before Rutgers went on a 7-0 run.