Coach Nate Oats ' first-ever appearance in Purdue 's Mackey Arena saw an 87-78 loss for Alabama basketball against the Boilermakers Friday night in Lafayette, Indiana.
It was also the No. 2 Crimson Tide 's first matchup against a ranked opponent and its inaugural road game of the 2024-25 season . Alabama (3-1) was denied redemption after last season's 92-86 loss to Matt Painter and company in the Hall of Fame series in Toronto.
The sold-out show featured fouls on fouls, an alarming injury scare for big man Clifford Omoruyi and a peek into a big future for freshman Labaron Philon as UA fell to No. 12 Purdue (4-0).
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Alabama gave up just enough points on early fouls to see the game go back and forth before Purdue took the upper hand with less than ten minutes to the buzzer.
Upon entering the game for Omoruyi at the top of the period, freshman jitters got the best of rookie center Aiden Sherrell, who gave up two quick fouls that gave Purdue the confidence it needed to put on an upset alert.
Mo Dioubate has been lauded for his physicality and explosiveness, but it brought two fouls, the first on a put-back on an offensive rebound after blocking a layup by Purdue's Braden Smith .
Alabama racked up 22 personal fouls, which saw 25 free-throw attempts for Purdue, which made 16. UA improved from the free-throw line, completing 13 of 15 shots, but five fewer fouls for the Boilermakers had a big impact on Friday's outcome.
It didn't help that Purdue still hadn't had a turnover with a little over two minutes to halftime. In the meantime, Alabama already had five. As a result, UA led for just about 20 seconds of the first half.
The Crimson Tide cleaned it up in the last 20 minutes with just three turnovers, but it was too late.
Alabama broke Purdue down off the dribble with the help of freshman Labaron Philon. The Mobile native showed why he was Mr. Basketball at Baker High with shifty layups for the Crimson Tide against a physical lineup of Boilermakers.
Philon finished as UA's top scorer, shooting 70% for 18 points, highlighted by three 3-pointers, five rebounds and four assists before fouling out. He was backed up by 15 points from Mark Sears and 12 from Grant Nelson.
The looks were there, but the numbers weren't. Purdue's efforts at limiting the Crimson Tide in transition paid off as its perimeter shots fell flat. At halftime, Alabama had made nine attempts from beyond the arc, but Philon was the only UA player with a trey.
Alabama's 30.3% shooting heading into Purdue was the lowest out of Oats' last four squads.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama basketball goes cold down stretch at Purdue, takes first loss
