Illinois Falls To Alabama

CHICAGO - Wednesday evening didn’t end in the result Illini fans were hoping for. In a back and forth battle with the #11-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, Illinois’ struggles at the free-throw line proved to be the difference maker as the Illini fell 90-86. 

Both teams came out of the gate hot, as Illinois converted on some offensive putbacks and both sides traded triples like it was cryptocurrency. After the Illini jumped out to their biggest lead at 19-12 around the 13:00 minute mark of the first half, things started to fall from the arc a little more consistently for the Crimson Tide. After a Labaron Philon Jr. trey to make it 19-15 and a quick Andrej Stojakovic turnover, Alabama looked to turn the tide and tighten the score with a fastbreak score. Senior Ben Humrichous had other plans, however, as he blocked Philon Jr. from behind and sent the Illini fast-break offense into motion. Coming off of a beautiful feed from Kylan Boswell, Stojakovic reared back and delivered a jaw-dropping dunk that had the United Center in awe as the Illini regained the momentum and took a 21-15 lead. Alabama didn’t flinch, however, as they inched their way back into making it a one possession game. Following a Taylor Bol Bowen 3-pointer and a steal, Latrell Wrightsell Jr. knocked down a long jumper just in front of the arc to pull the Crimson Tide within one, 23-22. Illinois continued to tickle the nylon from deep as Stojakovic and star freshman David Mirkovic knocked down triples on back-to-back possessions to make it 29-24. For every Illinois 3-pointer, Alabama had one of its own to match. The second half would end with both teams trading treys until Alabama’s Houston Mallette connected from deep with only 2.6 seconds remaining in the half, leaving Illinois with only a 1-point 42-41 lead going into the locker rooms at the break. 

Illinois quickly found themselves in a hole to start the second half. Their offense went cold as Alabama capitalized and took a 52-46 lead around the 15:00 minute mark. The Crimson Tide would stretch their lead to the biggest of the night at 64-55 before the Illini started to make a comeback push. Stojakovic converted on three straight drives to the bucket including a conventional three-point play to cut the Alabama lead back down to 64-62. Wrightsell Jr. would knock down another triple on Alabama’s next possession to make it 67-62, but another strong drive by Stojakovic on the other end cut it back to 67-64. Stojakovic would once again miss a free-throw which led to another Philon Jr. 3-pointer at the other end. A Mallette steal and fastbreak score would push the lead to 72-64 in favor of the Crimson Tide. Illinois fought back to within three points multiple times but simply could not stop the offense of Philon Jr. Another Philon Jr. 3-pointer to push the Alabama lead to 82-76 with 1:14 to go in the game seemed to be a dagger in the heart of the Illini, but the orange and blue wouldn’t go away without a fight. Boswell converted on the hoop and harm to make it a one possession game at 82-79. Philon Jr. and Boswell would trade buckets once more to make the score 84-81 before Illinois had to start fouling to preserve time. Illini freshman Keaton Wagler was fouled on an offensive rebound but only converted one of his two free-throws. Illinois would immediately foul, sending Alabama to the line where they converted on both free-throws to make it an 87-82 game. Humrichous knocked down a huge 3-pointer on the next possession with 8.4 seconds remaining to pull the Illini within two, 87-85. A miss at the line for Alabama would give Illinois what looked like an opportunity to tie the game. However, Alabama would immediately foul and send Illinois to the free throw line. As the theme had been all day, Boswell would miss the front end of the 1-and-1, giving Alabama the ball back with 7.1 seconds left and an 88-86 lead. Mallette was fouled and knocked down both free throws to ice the game. Alabama would walk out of the United Center with the 90-86 win over the Illini.

Stojakovic led all scorers with 26 points. Philon Jr. paced the Crimson Tide with 24. Boswell finished with 22 points and Mirkovic was also in the double-digit scoring column as he finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Bowen and Aden Holloway both finished in the double-digit scoring column for the Crimson Tide, with 12 and 11 points respectively. Mallette and Keitenn Bristow both finished with 10 points apiece off of the Alabama bench. 

The Illini finished just 13 of 22 from the free-throw line, an atrocious 59.1 percent. They shot 42.5% from the field, 11 of 32 shots falling from behind the arc. 

Illinois is now 4-1 and will host Long Island University (3-2) at 1:00pm on Saturday. Alabama is now 3-1 and will take on Gonzaga at MGM Arena on Monday at 8:30pm.