No. 8 Alabama got its first ranked win of the season Wednesday night, beating Illinois 100-87.

Alabama forward Grant Nelson lit it up in the first half for the Crimson Tide, scoring 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting and 4-for-7 from behind the arc. Wednesday’s night marked the second time this season that Nelson has scored at least 17 or more in the first half.

Nelson did not stop there, however. He finished the game with 23 points along with eight rebounds and two assists.

Nelson said postgame the credit goes to his teammates for his hot start to the night, “I owe it all to my teammates. We kind of knew how they were going to come out and guard me, but my teammates gave me confidence all week and passed me the ball early,” Nelson said.

A 13-0 run led by Nelson and Alabama guard Labaron Philon opened up a 17-point lead for Alabama in the first half to take a 36-19 lead. 

The second half went back-and-forth throughout the final 20 minutes. The Crimson Tide held its 17-point lead for the first seven minutes of the second half, but the Fighting Illini charged back, bringing Alabama’s lead to eight.

While Illinois tried to get back into the game, the Alabama offense was too much. Forward Derrion Reid and guard Aden Holloway combined for nine consecutive points to put the game to rest for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama shot 52% from the field and tied its season high of 11 made 3-pointers, going 11-for-34 from downtown.

Holloway and Philon were also bright spots for Alabama. Holloway started the game off making all of his first four shots, including his first three 3-pointers in the first half. Holloway finished the game with a season-high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting in 29 minutes off the bench.

Philon got close to both a triple-double and a double-double Wednesday night. Philon scored 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting. He also added 7 rebounds and 9 assists to his total. 

Philon said that although he may have gotten some nerves to start his college career, it is his confidence that has contributed to his strong start to the season.

“As a young guy, you probably get a lot of butterflies, but once you get in the gym and on the court, it’s all confidence from there and guys put their trust in me,” Philon said.

Although Illinois shot over 50% out of the gate to start the game, the Crimson Tide tightened the screws on defense, forcing Illinois to shoot just over 40% by the end of the half and just 28% from the 3-point line.

The Crimson Tide held Illinois to 33% for the game from 3-point range. Alabama won the turnover battle in the game as well, forcing 12 turnovers while just committing seven turnovers.

“I thought we had a good group out there on defense to close it out, there were lots of positives,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said.

One notable statistic from Wednesday’s win was the play of starting point guard Mark Sears. The senior went scoreless in the game, shooting 0-for-5 in 21 minutes of play.

It is the first time Sears has gone scoreless in a game since November 2020 when Sears attended Ohio University his freshman season. Oddly enough, Ohio was also playing Illinois the last time Sears did not score in a game.

Oats praised Sears’ unselfishness while on the bench for the final 11 minutes of the game, “I tried to put him back in, but he said to leave the guys in since they were playing well,” Oats said. “I’m sure he’ll bounce back and play pretty good against Houston.”

Up next, the Crimson Tide will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to take part in the first ever NIL Players Era Festival tournament for a three-game gauntlet. Alabama starts the tournament with No. 7 Houston on Tuesday. The Crimson Tide and the Cougars will tip-off at 7 p.m. CT on TBS.