BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Grant Nelson scored 23 points and Aden Holloway had 18 to lead No. 8 Alabama to a 100-87 victory over No. 25 Illinois on Wednesday night in a matchup of last season’s Elite Eight teams 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 consecutive three-pointers.

Will Riley led Illinois (3-1) with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Kylan Boswell added 17 and Kasparas Jakucionis 15. Tomislav Ivisic had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Sears missed all five of his shots, including four three-point attempts, and did not return after going to the bench with 11:27 to go.

Takeaways

Illinois: Dropped to 17-19 in Top 25 matchups since the start of the 2019-20 season. The Illini had their first tough test of the season after three double-digit wins.

Alabama: Bounced back strongly from an 87-78 loss at No. 6 Purdue to earn a win that should look good on the NCAA tournament resume. Made four consecutive threes and five of six to open the game.

Key moment

Alabama scored 13 straight points midway through the first half to build a 36-19 lead. Clifford Omoruyi’s layup capped the run as Illinois missed 11 straight shots.

The Tide went up by 18 points. Illinois cut the deficit to eight in the second half, but never got closer.

Key stat

Alabama made 11 of 13 free throws (84.6%). Illinois was only 13 of 24 (54.2%).

Next

Illinois hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday; Alabama faces No. 7 Houston next Tuesday in Las Vegas.

___

Receive poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 all season long. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball