Alabama basketball got up by as much as 6 with 10 minutes left, but Purdue pulled away with 28-13 run to close out the game.
Alabama got off to a slow start offensively in the first half and lost its first of seven straight games away from home inside a sold-out Mackey Arena, losing 87-78 to the Purdue Boilermakers.Â
“We schedule these games for a reason: to know what we have to work on,” said head coach Nate Oats.
Takeaway #1: Labaron Philon continues to shine
Alabama basketball fans may only see Labaron Philon play for just one season. Philon continued to shine and kept the team in the ballgame in the first half with physical drives to the lane and hitting the only three of the half after the Tide shot 1-9 in the first frame. Although Philon fouled out late in the game, finished with a career-high and team-leading 18 points on 3-4 shooting from the outside, five rebounds, and four assists.Â
Takeaway #2: Bad finish to the ballgame
After Bama got the lead up to six with 10:59, Purdue went on a 28-13 run to finish out the game and a quick 13-0 run to regain the lead, after CJ Cox hit three straight threes for the Boilermakers. Alabama got good looks all night to close out the game, but could just not get enough stops defensively, struggling in the paint where Trey Kaufman-Renn was dominant to finish the game.
Takeaway #3: Jarin Stevenson needs to get going
Sophomore Jarin Stevenson continues to be in a massive slump from the outside and it seems to mess up the confidence of the reclassified big in this ballgame. Stevenson is now 0-13 from three and most of the looks have been wide open.
Last season, Stevenson came up big for the Tide to lead the team to the Final Four and has shown those flashes from three, but with a team struggling to get into rhythm from the outside Stevenson needs to knock down at least one-two threes a game.
Next up for Alabama (3-1): vs. Illinois (3-0) – Nov. 20 at 9 p.m. EST
Next up for Purdue (4-0): vs. Marquette (4-0) – Nov. 19 at 9 p.m. EST