Grant Nelson scored 19 of his 23 points in the first half and finished with eight rebounds and four blocked shots to help No. 8 Alabama cruise to a 100-87 victory over No. 25 Illinois on Wednesday night at Birmingham, Ala.
Aden Holloway added 18 points and Labaron Philon recorded 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Crimson Tide (4-1). Latrell Wrightsell Jr. also had 16 points for Alabama, which reached the 100-point mark for the second time this season.
Will Riley recorded 18 points and nine rebounds and Kylan Boswell had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Fighting Illini (3-1). Kasparas Jakucionis added 15 points and six assists, Tomislav Ivisic contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds and Ben Humrichous scored 11 points for Illinois.
The Crimson Tide shot 52 percent from the field, including 11 of 34 from 3-point range. Alabama All-American Mark Sears went scoreless and missed all five of his field-goal attempts, including four from long distance.
No. 3 Gonzaga 84, Long Beach State 41
Graham Ike and Khalif Battle scored 15 points each to lead five players in double figures for the Bulldogs in their win over Long Beach State in Spokane, Wash.
Braden Huff scored 12 points off the bench, Ryan Nembhard had 10 points and seven assists and Nolan Hickman also scored 10 points for Gonzaga (5-0), which never trailed.
Devin Askew scored 12 points and Derrick Michael Xzavierro added nine points and 11 rebounds for Long Beach State (1-4).
No. 23 Texas A&M 71, Southern 54
Wade Taylor IV scored 17 points and helped spur a huge second-half turnaround as the Aggies came from behind to beat the Jaguars in College Station, Texas.
Texas A&M (4-1) trailed by 16 points in the first half and entered the second half down 39-25 before mounting a rousing comeback over the final 15 minutes. The Aggies held Southern scoreless for more than nine minutes.
Zhuric Phelps added 16 points for the Aggies. Jordan Johnson had a game-high 19 points for the Jaguars (1-4).
No. 24 Rutgers 74, Merrimack 63
Ace Bailey recorded 23 points and 10 rebounds, Dylan Harper scored 14 points and the Scarlet Knights remained unbeaten thanks to a win over the visiting Warriors in Piscataway, N.J.
Rutgers (4-0) didn’t lead by double digits until the second half, and the Scarlet Knights allowed Merrimack to pull within 65-58 with 2:53 to play after a 7-0 run. Harper added eight rebounds and six assists. Fellow freshman Lathan Sommerville had nine points and Jordan Derkack, playing against his former team, tallied seven points, six rebounds and five assists.
Adam “Budd” Clark powered Merrimack (1-3) with 22 points and six assists. Sean Trumper added 10 points for the Warriors.
–Field Level Media