Junior guard Kendrick Nunn scored 18 points in his season debut, leading Illinois to a 72-58 victory over UAB on Friday night in the Emerald Coast Classic at the Arena at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Fla.

Nunn, who missed the first five games while recovering from offseason surgery, came off the bench to make 7 of 15 shots from the field for the Fighting Illini (3-3).

Junior center Maverick Morgan, junior guard Malcolm Hill and sophomore forward Leron Black had 12 points apiece for Illinois.

Sophomore forward Chris Cokley and senior guard Robert Brown each scored 13 points for UAB (3-2).

UAB led 16-14 after Cokley scored with 8:47 left in the first half, but Illinois mounted a 9-0 run to take a 23-16 lead on a three-point play by Nunn with 5:30 remaining.

Freshman guard Jalen Coleman-Lands made a 3-pointer with four seconds left in the half to give the Illini a 28-23 lead at the break.

Illinois stretched its lead to 10 early in the second half and staged a 9-1 run to go up 42-27 on a dunk by Morgan with 15:39 to play. The Blazers cut the deficit to single digits on several occasions, but the Illini fended off each charge.