Top 25 roundup: No. 8 Alabama downs No. 25 Illinois

Grant Nelson scored 19 of his 23 points in the first half and finished with eight rebounds and four blocked shots to help No. 8 Alabama cruise to a 100-87 victory over No. 25 Illinois on Wednesday night at Birmingham, Ala.Aden Holloway added 18 points and Labaron Philon recorded 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Crimson Tide (4-1). Latrell Wrightsell Jr. also had 16 points for Alabama, which reached the 100-point mark for the second time this season.Will Riley recorded 18 points and nine rebounds and Kylan Boswell had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Fighting Illini (3-1). Kasparas Jakucionis added 15 points and six assists, Tomislav Ivisic contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds and Ben Humrichous scored 11 points for Illinois.The Crimson Tide shot 52 percent from the field, including 11 of 34 from 3-point range. Alabama All-American Mark Sears went scoreless and missed all five of his field-goal attempts, including four from long distance.No. 3 Gonzaga 84, Long Beach State 41Graham Ike and Khalif Battle scored 15 points each to lead five players in double figures for the Bulldogs in their win over Long Beach State in Spokane, Wash.Braden Huff scored 12 points off the bench, Ryan Nembhard had 10 points and seven assists and Nolan Hickman also scored 10 points for Gonzaga (5-0), which never trailed.Devin Askew scored 12 points and Derrick Michael Xzavierro added nine points and 11 rebounds for Long Beach State (1-4).No. 23 Texas A&M 71, Southern 54Wade Taylor IV scored 17 points and helped spur a huge second-half turnaround as the Aggies came from behind to beat the Jaguars in College Station, Texas.

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