The No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers lost the top spot in the Associated Press top 25 rankings to Houston on Monday, but they looked the part of a No. 1 team on Thursday night.
Purdue went into Tuscaloosa and picked up a signature 87-80 road win over the No.8-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, strengthening its case to reclaim the top spot.
The game marked the third consecutive season the two programs have played and Purdue won each of them, scoring at least 80 points in all three.
Purdue uses late run to take down Alabama
The Boilermakers outrebounded the Crimson Tide 52-28, but a strong 7-0 run to break an 80-80 tie with just over one minute to play proved to be the difference.
In a game that saw neither team lead by more than eight, the clutch second half from senior guard Braden Smith was difficult for Alabama to overcome. Smith scored 21 of his 29 points and made all 10 of his free throw attempts in the second frame. He also knocked down five of Purdue’s nine threes, providing a huge spark in a tightly-contested game.
Another positive sign for Purdue in Thursday night’s win was the return of All-Big Ten forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, who missed the first two games with a hip pointer and sore back. He returned with a vengeance, recording 19 points (9-of-16 FG) and 15 rebounds.
The biggest reason Purdue was dropped to the No. 2 ranking despite an unblemished record was due to its sloppy performance against Oakland on Nov. 7, barely escaping with an 87-77 win in a game it only led by three with just under eight minutes to play.
The Crimson Tide still made 16 threes, but considering they just put up 103 points in a win over a fifth-ranked St. John’s team on Saturday, this was a statement win for Purdue to enter their arena and put them away when the game was on the line.
It is so easy to overreact to rankings this early in the season, but Purdue certainly made a strong case for the No. 1 ranking on Thursday night. Houston has a ranked matchup of its own on Sunday against No. 22 Auburn, but after Purdue’s championship-caliber performance against Alabama, it is hard to dispute the Boilermakers as the No. 1 team at the moment.
