Illinois Adjusts and Wins, 71-59

Texas Pan American sprung a zone defense on Illinois and gave the 17th-ranked Illini all they could handle before faltering late and losing, 71-59, Sunday at Champaign, Ill.

“They sprang it on us and it obviously worked,” Illinois center James Augustine said.

“I think they were in kind of a weird zone. There were times when they were in a 1-3-1, it looked like, and times they were in a 2-3. They did everything they needed to do to stay in the game.”

The Broncos (1-1) forced Illinois to take half of its shots from three-point range, and, in the first half, most of them missed. The Illini (2-0) trailed by 10 points with 8 minutes 19 seconds to go.

The Illini appeared lost at times, moving too many players to one side of the court and sometimes ignoring the area under the basket.

Dee Brown scored 20 points, including 15 from three-point range, and had seven rebounds, four assists and four steals, Augustine scored 14 and Rich McBride had 11 points and eight assists as the Illini wound up making 41% of their shots, including 11 of 34 from three-point range.

No. 11 Boston College 70, Shawnee State 51 -- The game was scheduled as the first round of the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational but played on Boston College’s campus. The NAIA Division II Bears (3-3) stayed close for 10 minutes before the Eagles (2-0) pulled away.

No. 15 Alabama 105, Alabama State 68 -- The Crimson Tide (2-1) built a 95-38 lead with 8:12 left at Tuscaloosa before Coach Mark Gottfried emptied the bench and the Hornets (1-3) closed the game with a 30-10 run.

No. 25 Iowa State 101, Mountain State 82 -- Curtis Stinson scored 35 points at Ames, Iowa, to lead the Cyclones in their season opener. Iowa State surpassed 100 points for the first time since Jan. 31, 2001, when it lost to Missouri, 112-109, in four overtimes.