Braden Smith scores 29 and No. 2 Purdue tops No. 8 Alabama in season’s first top-10 matchup
KENNINGTON SMITH III Associated Press
Braden Smith scored 29 points, including 21 in the second half, and No. 2 Purdue beat eighth-ranked Alabama 87-80 on Thursday night in the first matchup of top-10 teams this season.
Trey Kaufman-Renn added 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Boilermakers (3-0), who notched the program’s first road win against a top-10, non-conference opponent since winning at Louisville in 1982.
Purdue dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Crimson Tide 52-28. Alabama (2-1) kept it close by hitting 16 of 44 from 3-point range.
Aden Holloway led the Tide with 21 points. Taylor Bol Bowen added 13.
Houston Mallette’s 3-pointer tied the game at 80 with 1:42 remaining, but Smith took over from there. He drove for a layup on the other end and then hit two free throws with 47 seconds left to give the Boilermakers some breathing room.
The game featured 21 lead changes. Kaufman-Renn, Purdue’s leading scorer from last season, missed the first two games to injury and made his debut in Tuscaloosa. He had 17 points and eight rebounds in the first half.
His physical presence ignited a Purdue team that finished with 19 offensive rebounds.
Alabama made up for its deficiencies with high-level 3-point shooting. Six Crimson Tide players combined for 10 3s in the first half. Alabama entered the game shooting only 30.6% from 3 this season but shot a blistering 48% in the first half.
Up next
Purdue hosts Akron on Sunday.
Alabama plays No. 14 Illinois on Wednesday.
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