Alabama basketball takes its first road trip of the season up to West Lafayette to face off against Purdue with both teams coming from Final Four appearances last season.
From playing in Toronto, Canada, around a year ago, Matt Painter and Nate Oats clash again, but this time, they are up in Mackey Arena for a road game for the Tide. Alabama begins its first of seven games away from Tuscaloosa, and this game will be a big stepping stone to see what the team is made of early. Purdue leads the series with a 6-3 record, winning the last matchup 92-86 in last year’s contest.
“To me this is a big test, and we’re gonna see what we’re made of,” said Oats.
General Information:
Teams: Alabama (3-0) and Purdue (3-0)
Tip time: 7Â p.m. EST
Watch: Â Peacock
Listen:Â Tide 100.9
What to know about Purdue:
Purdue is coming off a loss in the National Championship game and has started off the season strong. After losing Zach Edey to the NBA, the Boilermakers will now rely on the guard play of Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, who is leading the team in scoring so far with 17 PPG and coming off scoring 14 points in a 92-84 win over Yale on Monday.
Although the team lost two-time Naismith player of the year in Edey, Purdue has another 7″2 center in Will Berg, who is now starting for Daniel Jacobson, who is out for the rest of the season with a fractured tibia.
The keys for the Boilermakers to pull off the upset will be to keep the crowd energy loud, to win the battle in the paint, and do not give Alabama the opportunities for open threes because that gave Purdue big trouble in last year’s matchup, which allowed Alabama basketball to almost pull off the upset.
Latest on Alabama basketball:
Alabama is coming off a poor second half against McNeese State, where the team went on multiple droughts but was able to hold onto the win. This will be a big matchup where Clifford Omoruyi’s first coming out party could happen with having so much familiarity over the years against this team and has averaged 11 PPG. In the last time out against this Purdue team last season, Alabama hit 19 threes and Mark Sears had 35 points.
The keys to victory for Alabama will be to win the rebounding battle, not to let Purdue’s guard-oriented team take over the game, and to limit the scoring droughts on the offensive end. Guys like Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Aden Holloway, and Jarin Stevenson will need to all get going from behind the arc where the Tide have not gotten into a rhythm just yet.