Bama Central

Live Updates for No. 11 Alabama Basketball Against No. 8 Illinois

Score updates and analysis from the Crimson Tide's fourth game of the regular season against the Fighting Illini in the United Center.
Hunter De Siver|
Alabama Guard Labaron Philon at the United Center
Alabama Guard Labaron Philon at the United Center | Obtained from Alabama Men's Basketball's X/Twitter

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Alabama Crimson Tide

No. 11 Alabama men's basketball will play its fourth game of the regular season on the road against No. 8 Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 19.

The ranked matchup is technically a neutral site contest, as the venue is the United Center in Chicago rather than the Fighting Illini's home venue of State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. The United Center is home to the NBA's Chicago Bulls and the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks.

This is the latter portion of a neutral-site two-game series between these programs, as Alabama defeated Illinois 100-87 on Nov. 20, 2024 last season in the Birmingham venue, Legacy Arena at BJCC for the C.M. Newton Classic.

FOLLOW ALONG FOR LIVE UPDATES AND ANALYSIS BEFORE AND DURING THE GAME. REFRESH YOUR BROWSER AS THE MOST RECENT EVENTS WILL APPEAR AT THE TOP.

Final: Alabama 90, Illinois 86

What a win for the Crimson Tide as Alabama gives Illinois its first loss in back-to-back seasons.

Alabama Basketball vs. Illinois Final Stats
Alabama Basketball vs. Illinois Final Stats | Obtained from StatBroadcast

Second Half

  • TIMEOUT (0:33 2H): Alabama 84, Illinois 81: Philon has taken over as he's up to 23 points, including 18 in the second half. He's dominated for Alabama down the stretch.
  • TIMEOUT (3:52 2H): Alabama 73, Illinois 69: Illinois keeps closing the gap a bit as the Fighting Illini hs made 5 of its last 6 from the field. Stojakovic is up to 23 points.
  • TIMEOUT ILLINOIS (4:50 2H): Alabama 72, Illinois 64: The Fighting Illini called timeout just 40 seconds before this but it didn't work as Labaron Philon hit from deep and Houston scooped and scored. Massive moments.
  • Wrightsell a big three to end Alabama’s drought and Illinois calls timeout. Alabama leads 67-62 with 5:30 to go.
  • Things are getting a bit sloppy as Illinois is on a 7-0 run in the last couple of minutes and Alabama narrowly leads 64-62 with 6 minutes remaining.
  • TIMEOUT (7:42 2H): Alabama 64, Illinois 58: Illinois came into this one with six players averaging 10-plus points per game. Alabama is currently doing something similar as five players have between eight and 11 points in this one.
  • Sherrell is still seeing some time on the floor despite having four fouls midway through the second half, but he hits one from deep.
  • TIMEOUT (11:51 2H): Alabama 56, Illinois 50: Things are getting exciting in Chicago as Alabama leads 15-8 near the midway point of the second half. Freshman Amari Allen has put together quite the performance as he's up to eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists and a steal.
  • Sherrell picked up his fourth foul with 13 minutes left in regulation. He immediately went to the bench and Bristow subbed in.
  • Houston Mallette gets the timeout called before going out of bounds to give Alabama possession. Keitenn Bristow scored on his own offensive rebound on the possession before and is up to five total boards on the night.
  • TIMEOUT (15:44 2H): Alabama 50, Illinois 46: Fast start to the second half by both programs, but maybe a little too quick for Alabama, which has three turnovers in the last four minutes. The Crimson Tide had six turnovers in the entire first half.
  • Alabama players in foul trouble early in the second half: Labaron Philon Jr. (3), Aiden Sherrell (3), Amari Allen (3) and Taylor Bol Bowen (2).
  • Alabama gets its first lead of the night thanks to a layup by Philon to go up 43-42 with 18:25 remaining in regulation. Holloway built on it with a three-pointer. Both of them struggled scoring in the first half but the starting backcourt is off to a good start in the second period.

Halftime: Illinois 42, Alabama 41

Oats to CTSN at halftime: "We're lucky to be down 1. We're getting killed on the glass again. It's a little discouraging. We've got to man up. I think some of our guards are doing a better job. It would help to keep Aiden [Sherrell] out of foul trouble. Labaron [Philon] should be well-rested for the second half. We've got some dumb turnovers. I do think we missed some open shots that hopefully we start hitting. But the rebounds are killing us right now. We've got to get the rebounds shored up."

5 Standout Halftime Stats From Alabama vs. Illinois:

  • 41 3-point attempts between both teams (16 makes)
  • Two newcomers lead Bama in points with eight
  • Alabama hanging close in boards
  • Amari Allen & Keitenn Bristow combined eight boards
  • Labaron Philon & Aden Holloway combined 3 of 11
Alabama vs. Illinois Halftime Stats
Alabama vs. Illinois Halftime Stats | Obtained from StatBroadcast

First Half:

  • TIMEOUT (0:35 1H): Illinois 39, Alabama 38: Both teams are trading threes to close an exciting first half. Aden Holloway and Amari Allen have hit the last two from deep for Alabama. Allen is tied with Taylor Bol Bowen for a team-high eight points.
  • TIMEOUT (3:54 1H): Illinois 31, Alabama 27: Alabama continues to defend well as Illinois has hit just 1 of its last 8 field goal attempts. But the Crimson Tide is facing some foul trouble with starters Labaron Philon Jr. and Aiden Sherrell each at two.
  • Alabama G Labaron Philon Jr. just went to the bench after picking up his second foul with a 4 1/2 minutes to go in the first half. F Aiden Sherrell is also on the bench with two fouls.
  • Bristow has acted as Alabama's center in small-ball lineups thus far and it's worked well. He leads the Crimson Tide with three rebounds.
  • TIMEOUT (7:57 1H): Illinois 23, Alabama 22: Much better defense for Alabama as Illinois hasn't scored in the last four minutes. The Crimson Tide has also forced three turnovers in that time span. Aiden Sherrell and Amari Allen each have a steal.
  • TIMEOUT (11:20 1H): Illinois 23, Alabama 17: Bit of an exciting couple of minutes but Alabama is struggling to hit shots (currently 6 of 18). The Crimson Tide is struggling to defend Stojakovic, who is up to 9 points and 4 of 4 shooting.
  • The FS1 broadcast said that Peja Stojakovic is in the United Center. The former three-time NBA All-Star is the father of Illinois guard Andrej Stojakovic.
  • TIMEOUT (15:39 1H): Illinois 12, Alabama 10: The Fighting Illini is currently 5 of 10 from the field and UA has committed three fouls. But the Crimson Tide's offense is very much in it as four different players have scored, including Keitenn Bristow who is making his debut. Alabama is also even with Illinois in both total rebounds (4) and offensive rebounds (2).
  • Freshman Amari Allen gives Alabama its first points (3) of the night off the bench.

Pregame:

Alabama Starters:

G Labaron Philon Jr.
G Aden Holloway
G Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
F Taylor Bol Bowen
F Aiden Sherrell

This is guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr.'s first start since his Achilles rupture from last season. He's come off the bench in the Crimson Tide's previous two games, as he sat out the season opener with a finger injury.

Illinois Starters:

G Andrej Stojakovic
G Kylan Boswell
G Keaton Wagler
F David Mirkovic
C Zvonimir Ivisic

  • ***TIPOFF TIME UPDATE: The game is now set to begin at 8:15 p.m. CT***
  • Alabama forward Keitenn Bristow will play against Illinois tonight, per Yea Alabama, UA's NIL collective. The Tarleton State transfer missed the first three games of the regular season with an ankle injury. Alabama head coach Nate Oats told CTSN before the game that Bristow is not 100 percent, but he's healthy "enough to give us some good minutes up there."

How to Watch: No. 11 Alabama vs. No. 8 Illinois

Who: No. 11 Alabama (2-1, 0-0 SEC) vs. No. 8 Illinois (4-0, 0-0 SEC)

What: Alabama's fourth game of the regular season (second on the road/neutral site)

When: Wednesday, Nov. 19, 8:15 p.m. CT (was originally 8 p.m.)

Where: United Center, Chicago, Ill.

TV: FOX Sports 1

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Roger Hoover, Color: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

SiriusXM: Channel 81 (Alabama), Channel 83 (Illinois)

Series: Alabama leads 4-1 with the first matchup occurring on Dec. 12, 1953.

Last Meeting: The Crimson Tide cruised past the Fighting Illini 100-87 on Nov. 20, 2024 in Birmingham. Grant Nelson scored 23 points, including 19 in the first half, while Aden Holloway netted 18 with Latrell Wrightsell Jr. and Labaron Philon each tallying 16 points. Alabama showed its true depth as eventual Consensus First Team All-American Mark Sears didn't score a single point.

Last time out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide fell to No. 2 Purdue 87-80 at home on Nov. 13. While the margin on the scoreboard was close, and it was a tight race throughout, the same could not be said about the rebounding battle. The Boilermakers finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds compared to Alabama's seven, and 52 total boards to the Crimson Tide's 28. UA guard Aden Holloway scored 21 points, but it wasn't enough compared to Purdue guard Braden Smith's 29 and forward Trey Kaufman-Renn's 19.

Last time out, Illinois: The Fighting Illini cruised past Colgate 84-65 on Nov. 14. David Mirkovic absolutely annihilated the Raiders, as he scored 27 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. Fighting Illini guard Keaton Wagner also stood out with 19 points and Kylan Boswell and Ben Humrichous also finished in double figures.

Alabama Stat Leaders

  • Points: Labaron Philon Jr. (19.3 on 54.5 FG%)
  • Rebounds: Amari Allen (7.0, including 1.0 offensive)
  • Assists: Labaron Philon Jr. (6.0 with 3.0 turnovers)

Illinois Stat Leaders

  • Points: Kylan Boswell (18.5 on 45.8 FG%)
  • Rebounds: David Mirkovic (12.5, including 3.5 offensive)
  • Assists: Kylan Boswell (3.8 with 1.8 turnovers)

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Hunter De Siver
HUNTER DE SIVER

Hunter De Siver is the lead basketball writer for BamaCentral and has covered Crimson Tide football since 2024. He previously distributed stories about the NFL and NBA for On SI and was a staff writer for Missouri Tigers On SI and Cowbell Corner. Before that, Hunter generated articles highlighting Crimson Tide products in the NFL and NBA for BamaCentral as an intern in 2022 and 2023. Hunter is a graduate from the University of Alabama, earning a degree in sports media in 2023.

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