No. 13 Purdue holds on at home to hand No. 2 Alabama its first loss of the new season 87-78.
The Boilermakers extended their home winning streak to 21 with tonight’s nine-point victory.
It was a back-and-forth battle between two of the Final Four teams from last season. Purdue led 42-40 at the break before Alabama jumped out to a six-point lead with 11 minutes to play. The Boilermakers regained the lead with a little over nine minutes to play at Mackey Arena, and Matt Painter’s squad was able to slow down the Tide’s offense, holding onto the lead for the remainder of the game.
The three-ball was the difference maker in this anticipated matchup. Alabama has struggled from beyond the arc in its past two games and that trend continued tonight as Bama finished 9-29 from three (31%). Purdue shot a much more efficient 9-16 (56%) from long range.
Boilermaker point guard Braden Smith recorded his 11th career double-double with 17 points and 10 assists. It is Smith’s second game this season with double-digit assists. Trey Kaufman-Renn led Purdue in scoring, dropping 26 points and eight rebounds in the win.
Alabama point guard Mark Sears struggled to get in rhythm tonight, only connecting on five of his 15 shots. Sears finished with 15 points, six assists and a game-leading four turnovers.
Purdue (4-0) will likely jump into the top 10 after this win. The Boilermakers will try to carry this momentum into another ranked nonconference matchup against No. 15 Marquette next week.
Alabama (3-1) will look to bounceback against Illinois next Wednesday before taking on No. 8 Houston and No. 24 Rutgers the week of Thanksgiving.
