No major conference team in college basketball is playing with more pace and operating with a more modernized offense — prioritizing, like many an NBA team, 3-pointers and layups as their primary shot diet — than the Alabama Crimson Tide. But on Thursday night it was ironically an old-school attack from No. 2 Purdue — a deliberate halfcourt offense with high-level execution, control in the paint and punishing physicality — that dealt the No. 8 Tide their first defeat of the young season.
The final: Purdue 87, Alabama 80.
Purdue scored the win as road underdogs and in the process proved it should not have been underdogs in this game — and, perhaps, should not be underdogs in any game this season — because of its inside-out star power and quality of depth. Braden Smith was the main attraction in this one: He finished with 29 points, four assists and seven boards. But co-star Trey Kaufman-Renn in his first appearance of the season coming off injury was highly effective, too, turning in 19 points, 15 boards and a game-high five assists.
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Isaac Trotter
Alabama coach Nate Oats said earlier this week Kaufman-Renn “had his way” with Alabama’s frontcourt last November when he went for 26 points and eight boards and downed the Crimson Tide in West Lafayette. It was more of the same Thursday this time in Tuscaloosa. Kaufman-Renn made a team-high nine field goals, had a plus-minus of +20 to lead both teams and was a key…
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