Labaron Philon scored 24 points, and No. 11 Alabama beat eighth-ranked Illinois 90-86 at the United Center on Wednesday night.
Philon made three 3-pointers and had five assists. Taylor Bol Bowen scored 12 and Aden Holloway finished with 11 points, helping the Crimson Tide (3-1) squeeze out a tight win in their third straight game against a top-10 team. They bounced back from a loss to Purdue that came on the heels of a victory over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, though they sure got all they could handle in this one.
Andrej Stojakovic led Illinois (4-1) with 26 points, and Kylan Boswell had 22.
Alabama was clinging to a 79-76 lead when Philon pulled up for a 3 with 1:15 remaining, but Illinois stayed in it, with Boswell responding with a three-point play.
After Philon made a jumper in the paint, Boswell broke for a layup that cut it to 84-81 with 39 seconds remaining. Alabama’s Amari Allen got trapped on the inbounds, leading to a timeout, and then hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it a four-point game with 27 seconds left.
It was 85-82 with 12 seconds remaining when Keitenn Bristow made two free throws for Alabama. Ben Humrichous nailed a 3 for Illinois with eight seconds left, but the Crimson Tide hung on. Houston Mallette sealed the win with two foul shots in the final seconds.
The Illini, who played at least one regular-season game at the United Center from 1994 through 2018, were making their first appearance at the arena since the 2023 Big Ten Tournament. They got the Bulls treatment during pregame introductions, with “Sirius” by the Alan Parsons Project blasting through the arena.
The Illini had the crowd roaring midway through the half when Humrichous blocked a layup by Philon and Stojakovic, the son of former Sacramento Kings star Peja Stojakovic, threw down a thunderous dunk on the break.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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