No. 2 Alabama falls to No. 13 Purdue on the road for first loss of season
No. 2 Alabama basketball has suffered its first loss of the season, falling on the road to No. 13 Purdue by a final score of 87-78.
The game was the first of seven major non-conference games on the slate for the Crimson Tide, but for the second straight year, Nate Oats‘ squad has dropped a hard-fought game to the Boilermakers in the non-conference.
HOW IT HAPPENED
As the game started, it became very apparent that this was Alabama’s first road game of the season.
Offensively, the area where Alabama’s been struggling this season, the Crimson Tide again looked pretty out of sorts. Shots didn’t fall at all from outside in the first half, and the first few minutes of the game looked very uncomfortable for Alabama from the raucous Mackey Arena crowd.
One thing that was constant, though, was the Crimson Tide defense. The length of Alabama’s various lineups have Purdue problems of its own, keeping the Tide in the game while the offense worked to get going.
Late in the first half, with Purdue leading by seven, freshman guard Labaron Philon went on a person 7-0 run to get Alabama back in the game and tie it with about five minutes to go in the period. From there, it went back and forth for the rest of the half, until Fletcher Loyer hit a three at the buzzer to give the Boilermakers a 2-point halftime lead.
To start the second half, Alabama started to find its shooting stroke. The Crimson Tide hit three different shots from deep, from three different players, in the first four minutes after halftime. Purdue matched the makes with some offense of their own, providing an exciting back and forth start to the second stanza.
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As the second half wore on, Philon continued to make his impact on the game. He did everything from hitting threes, to making the correct pass, to finishing at the rim, to pushing the pace off defensive stops.
Alabama built up a lead as large as six, looking very strong, but Purdue answered with a 13-0 run, headed by three straight 3-point makes from CJ Cox headed into the under-8 timeout.
After that run, Purdue was able to keep Alabama at arm’s length. The Crimson Tide struggled to find consistent offense to match the Boilermakers’ scoring due to a minor scoring drought from the field down the stretch.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Labaron Philon – 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Grant Nelson – 12 points, 11 rebounds
WHAT’S NEXT
Alabama has another Big Ten opponent on deck, with Illinois coming to Legacy Arena in Birmingham for the annual C.M. Newton Classic next Wednesday. The game has an 8 p.m. CT tip time and will be aired on SEC Network.
