General
This is an opinion column.
The energy was still high in the BJCC as Latrell Wrightsell stepped to the foul line with 23 seconds left.
Hitting triple figures was all the drama left in downtown Birmingham and Wrightsell delivered. Two-for-two and No. 8 Alabama left with a 100-87 beating of 25th-ranked Illinois.
That was the 23rd time a Crimson Tide team coached by Nate Oats needed three digits on the scoreboard. This one was different.
Points No. 99 and 100 were witnessed by preseason All-American and national player of the year candidate Mark Sears from the bench. He’d been there for the final 11 minutes and 27 seconds of a game against a ranked opponent that was never truly in doubt.
Alabama scored 100 points Wednesday night.
Sears had exactly none of them.
That a player who averaged 21.5 points last season could lay the goose egg against a quality team that never threatened an upset says a few things.
First, Sears is the target every coach scheme to eliminate. He isn’t sneaking up on anyone in his final collegiate season and that can take a toll. Illinois coach Brad Underwood called Sears “the head of the snake,” who they were committed to giving him as little oxygen as possible Wednesday night.
Second, this Crimson Tide team is deep enough to score a hundred points with its top scorer contributing zero.
While there were clear aspects of the game that could use some improvement, this Alabama team previewed what was possible the machine got cranking even without its best player.
This was a night Alabama made its first four 3-pointers out of the gate, then missed 14 of its next 16.
Yet once Alabama’s lead hit double figures with 10:37 left in the first half, Illinois never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
Grant Nelson hit his first three 3s en route to a team-high 23 points. He made 4 of 9 from behind the arc after making just 3 of 10 in the first four games.
Underwood said he wasn’t quite bothered that Nelson was doing that damage because they were playing the percentages and Nelson traditionally wasn’t the deep threat. But he was Wednesday and made them pay.
So did Labaron Philon.
And Aden Holloway.
And Wrightsell.
Philon and Halloway (a transfer from Auburn) played up the recruiting hype each carried into college as they sped up a long yet young Illinois team team still finding its sea legs. Halloway’s 18 points included three 3s in four attempts after making just 5 of 16 in the first four games and hitting double figures only once.
All Philon, a freshman from Mobile, did was threaten a triple double with 16 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
“Wow,” Illinois’ Underwood said of Philon. “He’s not going to be in a Bama uniform very long.”
Five others joined the four double-figure scores.
None were named Sears.
So, what was the deal?
“I mean, he just, he was struggling,” Oats said. “There’s a lot of pressure on him. Obviously, being the home-state kid who came back, preseason player of the year. You know, he’s trying to do well. Teams are gearing their defense towards him. You know, he had some good looks tonight.”
Oats said he tried to put Sears back in the game at some point after exiting with 11-plus minutes left. But Sears said the guys on the floor were doing the job so they should be left in there. He said star players of the past like Herb Jones made similar requests earlier in his Alabama run and Oats respected Sears point.
And his All-American had a point.
Sears’ teammates had his back and made sure a talented Illinois team never got close enough to spoil a good time in Birmingham.
When Illinois cut it to 8 midway through the second half, Alabama quickly scored the next nine points.
And when it got back to 8 with just over 3:00 to play, Alabama scored the next six in a 40-second span.
Of Alabama’s 39 made shots, 23 came with an assist — easily a season high. The barrage was relentless and came from multiple directions.
The momentum lost in last Friday’s disappointment at Purdue was, at least partially, recaptured Wednesday night. And they did it with its star player in a slump.
It comes right on time for a brutal stretch as Alabama heads to Las Vegas for a three-game tournament beginning with Houston.
December opens with a road game at North Carolina and a visit from Creighton. No doubt, better days are coming for Sears.
But this Alabama team proved an important point in his scoring absence.
Triple digit games against ranked teams are still possible without the head of the snake.
And that’s scary.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
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