BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It was the kind of start Alabama needed. The Crimson Tide tore the roof off of Legacy Arena, hyping up the Tide fans that traveled to Birmingham with a 3-point barrage that set the Tide up for success in a 100-87 victory over Illinois.

Illinois didn’t go down quietly. The Fighting Illini made runs in the second half to put dents in the Tide’s lead. Illinois bested Alabama on the glass and matched its scoring output in the lane. But the Tide didn’t roll over after taking a big lead early, or when key players ran into foul trouble in the second half and with Alabama’s best player basically a non-factor the entire game.

“That is a big win,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said after the game. “Illinois’ good, they’re talented. They’ve got multiple guys that are gonna end up playing in the NBA. They’ve got length everywhere. They beat us on the boards so we’ve gotta get significantly better on the glass. But I thought our guys did a much better job defensively. We had a few things we gotta get cleaned up but I thought we played pretty hard."

Here are three takeaways from Alabama’s win over Illinois.

Alabama was up by 14 at halftime. It scored 52 points in a strong opening period against a top-25 team and sustained that momentum in the second half to seal a comfortable win over a Power Four foe.

Yet, Alabama’s best player wasn’t responsible for a single point.

Mark Sears was the only player who didn’t score in Alabama’s takedown of Illinois. It was the first time he's been held scoreless since Nov. 27, 2020, in his freshman season at Ohio. Coincidentally, that game was also against Illinois.

The bright orange Illini uniforms may be the only kryptonite for Sears' talent. But the Tide’s ability to create offense without having to rely on its best player to do so was impressive, especially given its opponent. Illinois ranked No. 4 in the nation in opponent effective field goal percentage and has length at every position on defense.

In place of Sears, Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway carried the offensive load for Alabama. Both guards found their groove early, while Philon continues to be on fire to start the season. He finished with 16 points, six rebounds and eight assists. He took over Sears' role as Alabama's lead guard in both the scoring and playmaking departments.

"He's kind of earned it from summer, fall practice," Oats said. "He's one of our hardest competitors in practice every day. He's winning the blue-collar in practice. He won the Hard Hat tonight and he just makes a bunch of tough plays and just loses himself in the game."

Holloway had his best game in an Alabama uniform Wednesday. After a few games with inefficient shooting splits, he made 6 of 7 attempts from the field and drilled 3 of his 4 3-point attempts to finish with 18 points and an assist.

"He's as good a shooter as I've ever coached," Oats said. "The fact that he went 3-for-4 from 3 is not really that shocking. I'd venture to say he's going to have other games where he goes 3 of 4, 4 of 5, 5 of 6, who knows? He can shoot it and his pace is good, his skill level's high. He's got a good finishing package in the lane."

Alabama’s excellent offensive display despite Sears being limited is also a credit to the Tide’s ability to control the ball. Alabama had just seven turnovers in the win compared to Illinois' 13. The Tide was excellent running out in transition and scored 19 fast break points. Alabama played directly and deliberately on its possessions. There was plenty of off-ball movement to create space in Illinois' defense, which created more open looks for Tide shooters.

If there was one player who set the tone for Alabama to start the game, it was Grant Nelson. The North Dakota State transfer kickstarted the Tide’s hot shooting night with three straight made 3-pointers, not bad for a player who shot just 27.3% from deep last season.

"I owe it all to my teammates giving me confidence," Nelson said. "We kind of knew they were gonna come out and guard me and some of the other 4s and 5s. So my teammates just gave me confidence all week and just passed me the ball early, easy — got the ball out of their hands quick and it worked out for us."

The makes fired up the overwhelmingly pro-Alabama crowd inside Legacy Arena and set in motion a dominant performance for the veteran Tide forward. Nelson finished with 28 points and eight rebounds. Nelson also provided solid cover on defense in the post against Illinois’ forwards and had four blocks operating at both the power forward and center positions.

Nelson had a quieter second half, but his performance continues an excellent start to the season for the talented fifth-year forward. Nelson has finished in double figures in each of Alabama’s last three games. He’s upped his 3-point shooting percentage from a year ago and looks much more comfortable at the power forward spot with Alabama.

Oats took ownership for not playing Sherrell in Alabama’s loss to Purdue. The freshman forward played just two minutes and picked up a pair of fouls in the first half before sitting the rest of the game.

During his press conference Tuesday, Oats promised that Sherrell would see more minutes against Illinois and he delivered on that promise. Sherrell rewarded his coach’s faith finishing with seven points, four rebounds, two steals and a plus-eight box plus-minus rating.

Sherrell didn’t just get minutes but got crucial ones in the second half after Clifford Omoruyi picked up his fourth foul with over 17 minutes left in the game. That forced Oats to sit the Rutgers transfer for a majority of the second half.

But Sherrell provided excellent cover defensively. Sherrell helped the Tide keep a steady presence in the lane defensively and weather the storm as Illinois attempted to mount a comeback. He displayed his excellent ability on both ends of the floor in the second half, including hitting a 3 and catching a lob on an excellent pick-and-roll action with Sears.

"He played pretty physical, got some rebounds," Oats said. "A lot more like we thought we'd have got and I got him more minutes. I thought he deserved more minutes. I should have played him more at Purdue to be honest with you but he played a lot better for us tonight."