How to watch: No. 8 Alabama basketball vs. No. 25 Illinois

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Purdue on Friday. The Crimson Tide will look to bounce back from the 87-78 to defeat when it faces another quality Big Ten side in No. 25 Illinois on Wednesday.

After dropping to No. 6 in the latest edition of the AP Poll on Monday, Alabama will face Illinois inside Legacy Arena in Birmingham. It’s the fifth all-time meeting between Tide and Fighting Illini. Alabama is 3-1 all-time including two wins in the NIT and one NCAA Tournament victory.

Illinois will be another challenging test as Alabama continues a gauntlet portion of its nonconference schedule. Including the Illini, Alabama will play five ranked teams in its next five matchups and doesn’t have a game inside Coleman Coliseum until Dec. 14.

Alabama will look to channel some of the lessons learned against Purdue, and likely learn a few more against a disciplined Illinois side Wednesday. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the matchup.

Who: No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 25 Illinois

When: 8 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Nov. 20

Where: Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama

Watch: SEC Network (Play-By-Play: Tom Hart, Analyst: Jimmy Dykes)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (play-by-play: Roger Hoover, analyst: Bryan Passink)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 17.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.5 apg, 44.2% FG, 35.0% 3-pt

Latrell Wrightsell Jr.: 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 12.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 44.4% FG, 35.7% 3-pt

Derrion Reid: 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, freshman

Stats: 6.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 45.5% FG, 42.9% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

Stats: 12.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, 62.5% FG, 30.0% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 9.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 0.3 apg, 77.8% FG, 73.3% FT

Kasparas Jakucionis: 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, freshman

Stats: 9.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 7.7 apg, 40.0% FG, 25.0% 3-pt

Kylan Boswell: 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, junior

Stats: 5.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 25.0% FG, 25.0% 3-pt

Tre White: 6-foot-7, 210 pounds, junior

Stats: 8.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.3 apg, 47.1% FG, 44.4% 3-pt

Ben Humrichous: 6-foot-9, 225 pounds, graduate

Stats: 13.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 50.0% FG, 45.0% 3-pt

Tomislav Ivisic: 7-foot-1, 255 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 17.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 54.5% FG, 25.0% 3-pt

Alabama struggled greatly against Purdue’s forwards on Friday. The Boilermakers exposed Alabama in one-on-one post-up situations and scored 37 points in the paint. Tide coach Nate Oats took ownership after the game and in his press conference Tuesday and said the coaching staff should have done better in preparing the players to face a Purdue team with a strong paint presence despite the Boilermakers no longer having star center Zach Edey.

“We got a little wake up as far as our post-D,” Oats said Tuesday. “We spent three days on it, whether it was video or in actual practice and I think we’ll be better and Illinois doesn’t post nearly as much as Purdue they play a lot of high pick-and-roll but they will post some and they’ll post their guards a little bit too occasionally. So we’ve gotta be ready for it.”

Illinois isn’t as direct of a post-up team as Purdue but does rank as the fourth-tallest team in the country and has plenty of size to contend with Alabama in the lane and on the glass – another area of emphasis where Oats felt Alabama struggled against the Boilermakers. Illinois ranks No. 7 in the country in rebounding and is primarily led by sophomore center Tomislav Ivisic, who is averaging nine boards through the Illini’s opening three games.

Along with Ivisic, the Illini boast 6-foot-6 guard Kasparas Jakucionis and 6-foot-7 forward Will Riley. Both players were projected first-round picks in ESPN’s most recent NBA mock draft and average at least six rebounds per game. Their size and versatility also allow Illinois to utilize pick-and-rolls effectively, meaning Alabama’s communication will have to be on point Wednesday to avoid being caught in mismatches or left on an island when Illinois drives to the rim.

Alabama is shooting just 30.4% from 3-point range through its first four games. That doesn’t fit the trend of typical Tide teams and likely won’t continue given the shooting capabilities of the players on the roster.

However, after suffering its first straight loss and struggling to make 3s in hard-fought wins over McNeese and Arkansas State, a game where Alabama shoots the cover of the ball could do wonders for the team’s confidence as it continues its gauntlet non-conference run.

Alabama will be by far the most talented team Illinois has faced thus far and the Tide should have success if it can find its rhythm from deep Wednesday. But the Illini pose their own challenges defensively. Illinois ranks No. 7 in opponent effective field goal percentage, and given its length at all five positions, Alabama will have to move the ball quickly and play with good spacing in order to create open looks for shooters.

The silver lining for the Tide is that despite its lackluster performances from 3, it still ranks No. 4 in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency. Alabama is still averaging a strong 1.2 points per possession and has created good offense from pick-and-roll actions which have freed up driving lanes. Grant Nelson has looked much more comfortable offensively at his natural power forward spot and can take Illinois forwards out of the paint with his ability to operate off the dribble. Alabama also had an improved outing at the free throw line against Purdue, shooting 86.7% from the charity stripe Friday.

Alabama’s star guard Mark Sears did not replicate his outstanding game against Purdue in 2023. After scoring 35 points against the Boilermakers in Toronto, Canada, he managed just 15 points and shot just 5 of 15 from the field Friday.

Oats acknowledged that the team has to do a better job of both getting Sears open and using him as a screener if teams aren’t trying to help off of him. He compared the strategy to how Alabama unlocked Brandon Miller during his lone season.

Sears won’t have many inefficient games. He’ll certainly be called upon to deliver big performances with his scoring as the season continues. However, as Sears continues to deal with the deserved attention he gets from opposing defenses, Oats also foresees Sears as being able to adapt his role into more of a playmaker and use the attention he gets against other teams to free up more scoring options.

Alabama’s continuity adjustments won’t all happen at once. But the Tide’s offense runs through Sears no matter what his role looks like in any given game. As Alabama continues to face well-coached and talented defense, the task for its star guard is to continue finding the best way to impact games both by scoring and playmaking.

“We as a coaching staff have got to do a better job of getting him going and he’s got to do a better job — when he does get it and he’s attracting so much traffic… Maybe there’s games where he has 10 assists and one turnover like [Purdue guard] Braden Smith and plays a little more efficient,” Oats said. “So we’ve gotta help him better and then he’s gotta make some better reads and I think he’ll be ready to play a lot better game against Illinois.”

Alabama has scored 100 points or more in a game in 90 games throughout its program’s history, with Nate Oats’ teams accounting for 24 percent (22 games)

Alabama has scored 100 points or more in a game on 22 separate occasions under Oats. Prior to Oats’ arrival, it took the Crimson Tide 31 years (1988-2019) to match that same feat

Head coach Nate Oats’ 117 wins in his first five seasons at Alabama stands as the most wins in a five-year span in program history

Labaron Philon is the first Alabama player since Colin Sexton (2017) to have 17 or more assists and 48 or more points in their first four games as a freshman

Alabama is the only team in Division I that has three players on its roster that has started 100 career games or more throughout their collegiate careers in Chris Youngblood (118 starts), Mark Sears (114 starts) and Clifford Omoruyi (104 starts)

The Crimson Tide’s roster is the only roster in the country that has six players that have scored 1,000 career points throughout their Division I careers: Mark Sears (2,151 points), Chris Youngblood (1,732 points), Grant Nelson (1,483 points), Houston Mallette (1,295 points), Clifford Omoruyi (1,251 points) and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (1,074 points)

Alabama is ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press Top-25 poll, the highest preseason ranking in program history, breaking the No. 7 ranking set in the 1990-91 season

The Crimson Tide was picked to finish first in the league as voted on by a select panel of both SEC and national media members, the third time in program history (1991 and 2003) Alabama has been picked first in the SEC preseason poll

Sears joins Erwin Dudley (2003) as the only players in program history to be named as the SEC Preseason Player of the Year

Alabama is one of three schools that has three selections (Nelson, Omoruyi and Sears) on the Preseason Top 50 list joining Kansas (four players) and Baylor (three players)

Alabama is one of two teams in the country (Indiana) that has a player named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Watch List (Clifford Omoruyi), Bob Cousy Watch List (Sears) and Karl Malone Watch List (Grant Nelson)