TORONTO – The Alabama men’s basketball team took one of the best teams in the country down to the wire Saturday afternoon before dropping a narrow 92-86 decision to No. 4/4 Purdue at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto.

 

Mark Sears had a career-night for the Tide (6-3), scoring 35 points while shooting 50 percent (8-16) from the three-point line in the losing effort. Reigning Naismith Player of the Year Zach Edey (35) and Braden Smith (27 points) combined to score 62 of Boilermakers’ (8-2) 92 points.

 

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments

“They (Purdue) are a really good team, they have good players. Zach Edey is the leading candidate for National Player of the Year and you can see why. He is a tough cover. We didn’t do a terrible job on him but he still had 35 points, so he makes things difficult. He gets the ball deep, he is so big and when you do double him he is pretty good at passing out of it. Then, you can’t foul him because he goes 11-11 from the free-throw line and is a good free-throw shooter. I thought our guys fought and for the most part. We executed the gameplan and I thought we just had too may errors. We have to step up to the free-throw line and make our free throws. I thought our guys battled all night. Purdue is arguably the best team in the country and they will be right there in the end. Our kids went toe-to-toe with them for 40 minutes. We just have to figure out a way to get some wins in these big games.”

 

Team Stats

• Mark Sears scored a game-high 35 points, his career-best in an Alabama uniform
• Sears is the first UA player to score 35 points in a game since Brandon Miller’s 41 points at South Carolina on Feb. 22, 2023
• Alabama shot 41 percent (19-46) from beyond the arc, its highest percentage from three-point range this season against a Power Five opponent
• Alabama committed 25 fouls while Purdue was called for 15 fouls
• Alabama’s frontcourt was called for a combined 14 personal fouls with Mohamed Wague and Nick Pringle both fouling out
• Purdue outscored Alabama 34-20 inside the paint
• Rylan Griffen recorded a career-high in assists (5) matched his career-high in rebounds (7)
   

First Half

• Alabama started the game on an 8-0 run and hit its first four shots from the three-point line
• The Tide’s biggest lead was 12 points, 30-18, at the 10-minute mark before Purdue responded with an 11-1 run
• The Crimson Tide made 15 total field goals in the first half, 13 of which came from beyond the arc
• UA’s 49 points in the first half was the most Purdue gave up in a half this season
• Mark Sears scored a team-high 15 points while Purdue’s Zach Edey led all scorers with 18 points

Second Half

• After Alabama started the half on a 6-0 run, forcing to Purdue to take timeout, the Boilermakers were able to cut UA’s lead to just one-point (60-59) at the 12:44-mark
• Purdue took its first lead of the game (62-59) at the 11:31-mark of the second half
• The Tide regained the lead at the 4:49 mark before Purdue regained the lead for good less than 30 seconds later

Up Next

• Alabama will return continue its road trip next week against No. 10/11 Creighton on Saturday, Dec. 16
• Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT and will be televised on FOX

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