Labaron Philon Jr. scored 10 of his team-high 24 points in the final 2:24 as No. 11 Alabama held off No. 8 Illinois for a 90-86 nonconference victory on Wednesday night in Chicago.
Philon drove for a layup, tipped in his own miss, swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key and zipped into the paint for a floater during the decisive stretch as the Crimson Tide (3-1) rebounded against its third consecutive Top 10 foe after losing to then-No. 2 Purdue last week in Birmingham, Ala.
Taylor Bol Bowen added 12 points and Aden Holloway contributed 11 for Alabama, which didn’t take its first lead until the second half. Keitenn Bristow and Houston Mallette hit key free throws late to finish with 10 points apiece.
Andrej Stojakovic led Illinois (4-1) with 26 points. Kylan Boswell added 22 points and seven assists while David Mirkovic (10 points, 10 rebounds) registered his fourth double-double in five games.
Stojakovic scored nine points in a 2:14 span — highlighted by a one-handed dunk over Mallette in transition that brought the United Center crowd to its feet — to give Illinois a 23-17 lead with 12 minutes left in the half.
Illinois maintained the lead throughout the first half, but things kicked into overdrive once Boswell picked up his second foul with 3:54 left in the first half. Illinois coach Brad Underwood then put in prized Serbian point guard Mihailo Petrovic for his first college action.
Petrovic, who missed the first four games with an injured hamstring, swished his first shot — a 3-pointer from the top of the key — to give Illinois a 36-32 lead and inspire both teams to get hot from long distance.
In the final 1:16 of the half, the teams combined to drill five straight 3-pointers. Holloway, Amari Allen and Mallette drained bombs for Alabama while Keaton Wagler and Ben Humrichous responded for Illinois — both on Petrovic feeds — as the Illini held a 42-41 edge at the break.
Alabama took its first lead with 18:25 to play on Philon’s driving layup over 7-foot-2 Zvonimir Ivisic. That started a trend where Philon and Holloway kept driving into the paint to set up themselves and teammates for open shots.
Holloway drove for a layup, Keitenn Bristow tipped in a Holloway miss and Philon found Bristow for an easy layup on a pick-and-roll to give Alabama a 54-46 margin with 14:36 to go.
The Illini never found a way to catch up as they missed 14 of their first 18 shots in the second half. Boswell’s eight points were all Illinois got in the first nine minutes of the second half. Stojakovic scored 11 straight Illini points over a 4:16 stretch as the Illini got within two multiple times.
