Braden Smith scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half and collected seven rebounds to lead No. 2 Purdue to an 87-80 victory over No. 8 Alabama on Thursday night in a nonconference showdown at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Trey Kaufman-Renn recorded 19 points and matched his career best of 15 rebounds in his first game this season due to hip and back injuries. Oscar Cluff added nine points and 11 rebounds for the Boilermakers (3-0), who owned a dominating 52-28 rebounding edge
Aden Holloway made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points for the Crimson Tide (2-1). Taylor Bol Bowen had 13 points, Aidan Sherrell had 12 and Labaron Philon added 11 for Alabama.
Smith drained five treys as Purdue hit 9 of 21 while finishing at 47% overall from the field while defeating Alabama for the third straight season.
The Crimson Tide trailed by seven before Bowen scored on a dunk, Philon stole the ball and drove in for a slam and Houston Mallette drilled a trey to tie it at 80 with 1:42 remaining.
Smith scored on a layup 24 seconds later and then made two free throws with 47.6 seconds left to give the Boilermakers an 84-80 lead. Cluff split two free throws with 29.2 seconds left to make it a five-point lead.
Philon’s missed 3-pointer on the other end was followed by two free throws from Cluff with 20.4 seconds left as Purdue closed it out.
The Crimson Tide made 42.4% of their shots and were 16 of 44 from behind the arc.
Smith buried a 3-pointer to give Purdue a 53-48 lead with 16:12 remaining in the game.
Alabama answered with a 13-4 spurt. Holloway capped it with a jumper to give the Crimson Tide a 61-57 lead with 11:34 left.
Smith responded with five straight points, including a trey to put Purdue ahead by one with 11 minutes to play. Smith connected on another 3-pointer to make it 66-63 before Philon drained a tying trey with 8:37 remaining.
The score was later knotted at 68 before the Boilermakers put together an 11-3 run. Daniel Jacobson capped it with an inside hoop to make it 79-71 with 5:11 remaining.
Kaufman-Renn scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the first half as the Boilermakers took a 43-41 lead. Holloway had 14 first-half points for the Crimson Tide.
The Boilermakers had a 25-11 rebounding advantage. The Crimson Tide made 10 3-pointers in the half, four by Holloway.
