BIRMINGHAM — Out to avenge Alabama basketball‘s upset at Purdue, coach Nate Oats and company proved that it was indeed a good week of practice in the C.M. Newton Classic on Wednesday.
Defeating No. 20 Illinois100-87, Alabama (4-1) dealt the Fighting Illini (3-1) the same pill the Purdue forced the Crimson Tide to swallow last Friday: the program’s first road loss of the season against its first ranked opponent.
Host site Legacy Arena hasn’t always been kind to Alabama, which lost the memorial contest twice before last year’s win over Liberty.
The annual C.M. Newton Classic is played in honor of Alabama basketball legend, C.M. Newton, who rose to notoriety while coaching UA in the early 1970s by signing the program’s first Black players.
Here are three takeaways from how UA settled its record in the classic:
Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis found the board first with three. Then, UA forward Grant Nelson put those who doubted whether he was “100 percent” after his early season injury on notice with a 23-point performance on the evening.
The fifth-year senior posted nine points in the next three minutes with back-to-back-to-back 3s. Early fouls and paint touches helped Illinois keep it close, until Auburn transfer Aden Holloway gave Illinois “the biz” — or a 3.
After Holloway’s first trey — shooting 100% for 11 points by halftime to help UA to a 52-38 lead − the offense was 5 for 6 from the arc with 15:45 left in the first period, on the brink of running off with its six-point advantage. By the next media timeout about seven minutes later, UA had put together a 13-0 run in the three minutes prior.
Turnovers saw UA sweat against Arkansas State and McNeese State, along with Purdue. Fans in Birmingham saw just how dominant their returning Final Four crew can be when it forces turnovers instead of giving them up.
Illinois didn’t score its first point off of a turnover until about two minutes to halftime, and it was only Alabama’s second turnover of the first period. Meanwhile, UA forced seven turnovers in the first half, highlighted by steals for Nelson, Holloway and freshman big Aiden Sherrell, who split a team-high two with fellow rookie Labaron Philon.
The turnovers were far fewer and farther between compared to other outings this season. Still, all three of Alabama’s first-half turnovers came from bad passes. Two more failed pass attempts contributed to four total turnovers in the second period.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
