When Illinois turned away Alabama's inside game, the Crimson Tide turned to its 3-point game.
That turned a 10-point deficit into a 72-69 victory for visiting Alabama and a second-round berth in the National Invitation Tournament.Wilting under the long-range barrage was Illinois and Lou Henson, who coached his last game after 21 seasons at Illinois and 34 seasons overall.
"It's kind of sad to go out the way we went out, but we're not quite good enough to beat the clubs we're going up against," Henson said. "If we were, we'd win these games. The story of this ball club is great effort and a great bunch of guys."
The opening round continues tonight with St. Joseph's at Iona, Nebraska at Colorado State, and Gonzaga at Washington State. Providence vs. Fairfield Friday night at New Haven, Conn., will complete the first round.
The other second-round pairings will not be completed until Friday's game.
Fresno State 58, Miami, Ohio 57
Dominick Young scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half, including a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left, as Fresno State edged visiting Miami of Ohio to win for first-year coach Jerry Tarkanian.
Minnesota 68, Saint Louis 52
Bobby Jackson scored 17 points and David Grim had 15 as host Minnesota won its fourth straight.
Rhode Island 82, Marist 77
Tyson Wheeler scored 24 points and Antonio Reynolds added 18 as Rhode Island downed visiting Marist.
Michigan St. 64, Washington 50
Quinton Brooks and Jamie Feick each scored 16 points and host Michigan State had a 14-0 second-half run.
South Carolina 100, Davidson 73
Playing at home, South Carolina got 33 points from Larry Davis, who hit 12 of 13 shots and was perfect on seven 3-pointers.
Illinois St. 73, Mount St. Mary's 49
Maurice Trotter scored 18 points as Illinois State outshot and outran visiting Mount St. Mary's.
Wisconsin 55, Manhattan 42
Sam Okey scored all 11 of his points in the second half as host Wisconsin rallied from a nine-point deficit.
College of Charleston 55,
Tennessee 49
Playing in Knoxville, the College of Charleston held Tennessee to 31 percent shooting to post its first postseason win.
Vanderbilt 86,
Arkansas-Little Rock 80
Frank Seckar scored 25 points and Vanderbilt went 12-for-14 at the free-throw line in the final 3:05.
Tulane 87, Auburn 73, OT
LeVeldro Simmons scored 26 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime.
Missouri 89, Murray St. 85
Sammie Haley scored a career-high 31 points, including the decisive basket with 16 seconds left.