The Purdue men’s basketball team faced its toughest test of the season so far in Alabama and came away with an 87-78 win.
Purdue improved to 4-0 and will likely move up after being ranked No. 12 in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. The Crimson Tide were No. 2 before the loss to the Boilermakers.
Trey Kaufman-Renn had 26 points while Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer had 17 points each.
Here are Nathan Baird’s player ratings and Sam King’s quick story from the game. We’ll have more coverage soon.
Purdue takes down No. 2 Alabama at Mackey Arena
The Boilermakers move to 4-0 after a big win over the Crimson Tide. Trey Kaufman-Renn led the way with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Purdue 87, Alabama 78
Purdue holds 7-point lead over Alabama in second half
3:20 left 2H: Alabama hasn’t done much scoring in the last few minutes. Purdue extended its lead to 7 points. Trey Kaufman-Renn leads the Boilermakers with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Purdue 78, Alabama 71
Purdue’s C.J. Cox catches fire, gives Boilermakers the lead
6:59 left 2H: C.J. Cox made a 3 at 9:13 and was fouled in the process. Cox missed the free throw attempt. Purdue leads 66-65. Cox again sunk a 3 at 8:56. Less than a minute later, Cox hit his third straight 3-pointer. The freshman is on fire.
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. made a 3 for Alabama at 7:55.
Purdue 72, Alabama 68
Purdue trails Alabama by 3 in second half
11:17 left 2H: After Trey Kaufman-Renn made a jumper, Alabama tied it at 57-57 with a 3 from Labaron Philon. The Tide went up 62-59 with a layup at 11:38.
Alabama 62, Purdue 59
Purdue ties it up with Alabama in second half
15:56 left 2H: Fletcher Loyer came out of the half with a jumper. Labaron Philon answered with a 3-pointer. Alabama took a 46-44 lead with a 3-pointer from Latrell Wrightsell Jr. at 18:18. Trey Kaufman-Renn tied it at 46-46 with a jumper. Mark Sears made a 3 at 16:57 to give Bama a 49-46 advantage.
Loyer nailed a 3 at 16:31 to tie things up once again. Grant Nelson threw down a dunk for Alabama, but Loyer’s layup tied it up at 51-51.
Purdue 51, Alabama 51
Fletcher Loyer gives Purdue a lead at halftime over Alabama
Halftime: Alabama took its first lead with back-to-back free throws from Mark Sears at :36. Braden Smith went to the free throw line and made both attempts. Sears went back to the free throw line at :12 and made both shot attempts.
Fletcher Loyer nailed a 3 at the buzzer to give Purdue the momentum going into the half.
Purdue 42, Alabama 40
Purdue’s lead down to 1 point against Alabama
4:27 left 1H: Alabama’s Labaron Philon made a 3 and followed that with a layup. That tied things up at 28-28. Fletcher Rent broke the tie with a 3-pointer at 5:13. At 4:33, Mark Sears cut Purdue’s lead to 1 point with a layup.
Purdue 31, Alabama 30
Purdue keeps its distance from Alabama in the first half
7:33 left 1H: Alabama cut Purdue’s lead to 2 points on several occasions, but the Boilermakers have been in the lead the whole game.
Raleigh Burgess drilled a 3 at 7:46 to give Purdue a little breathing room.
Purdue 26, Alabama 21
Purdue maintains its lead over Alabama in first half
11:31 left 1H: Caleb Furst and Braden Smith made back-to-back baskets for the Boilermakers. Shortly after, Trey Kaufman-Renn hit a jumper.
At the 12:21 mark, Smith made a jumper. Alabama’s Labaron Philon answered with a layup. Philon was fouled by Myles Colvin on the play and made the free throw. Purdue leads 15-11.
Purdue 15, Alabama 11
Purdue gets out to an early lead against Alabama
15:09 left 1H: Trey Kaufman-Renn started things off with a 3-pointer at 18:10. Braden Smith made a layup at 15:36 to extend Purdue’s lead to 5-2.
Neither team is shooting that well so far. Purdue is 2-for-8 and Alabama is 1-for-6.
Purdue 5, Alabama 2
Purdue basketball vs Alabama time today
- Date: Friday, Nov. 15
- Time: 7 pm ET
- Location: Mackey Arena in West Lafayette
What channel is Purdue vs Alabama game on today?
Purdue vs Alabama will steam on Peacock. Paul Burmeister and Robbie Hummel and Caroline Pineda will serve as announcers. Streaming options for the game Peacock (subscribe today).
Purdue vs Alabama prediction
Nathan Baird, IndyStar: Purdue 86-82
“The Crimson Tide have had their own mid-major close calls early, and I’ll take the home crowd to push a still-evolving Purdue team over the top.”
Purdue betting odds
ESPN’s matchup predictor gives Purdue a 52.5% chance of winning.
Purdue basketball schedule
(all times ET)
Nov. 4:Purdue 90, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 73
Nov. 8: Purdue 72, Northern Kentucky 50
Nov. 11: Purdue 92, Yale 84
Fri., Nov. 15: Alabama, 7 p.m., Peacock
Tues., Nov. 19: at Marquette, 9 p.m., FS1
Sat., Nov. 23: vs. Marshall, noon, B1G+ app
Purdue basketball news
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