No. 2 Purdue makes case to reclaim prime rating with highway win

[ad_1] The No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers misplaced the highest spot within the Related Press prime 25 rankings to Houston on Monday, however they appeared the a part of a No. 1 workforce on Thursday night time.

Purdue went into Tuscaloosa and picked up a signature 87-80 highway win over the No.8-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, strengthening its case to reclaim the highest spot.

The sport marked the third consecutive season the 2 applications have performed and Purdue received every of them, scoring no less than 80 factors in all three.

Purdue makes use of late run to take down Alabama The Boilermakers outrebounded the Crimson Tide 52-28, however a powerful 7-0 run to interrupt an 80-80 tie with simply over one minute to play proved to be the distinction.

In a sport that noticed neither workforce lead by greater than eight, the clutch second half from senior guard Braden Smith was troublesome for Alabama to beat. Smith scored 21 of his 29 factors and made all 10 of his free throw makes an attempt within the second body. He additionally knocked down 5 of Purdue's 9 threes, offering an enormous spark in a tightly-contested sport.

One other constructive signal for Purdue in Thursday night time's win was the return of All-Large Ten ahead Trey Kaufman-Renn, who missed the primary two video games with a hip pointer and sore again. He returned with a vengeance, recording 19 factors (9-of-16 FG) and 15 rebounds.

The most important motive Purdue was dropped to the No. 2 rating regardless of an unblemished document was because of its sloppy efficiency towards Oakland on Nov. 7, barely escaping with an 87-77 win in a sport it solely led by three with just below eight minutes to play.

The Crimson Tide nonetheless made 16 threes, however contemplating they only put up 103 factors in a win over a fifth-ranked St. John's workforce on Saturday, this was a press release win for Purdue to enter their area and put them away when the sport was on the road.

It's so straightforward to overreact to rankings this early within the season, however Purdue actually made a powerful case for the No. 1 rating on Thursday night time. Houston has a ranked matchup of its personal on Sunday towards No. 22 Auburn, however after Purdue's championship-caliber efficiency towards Alabama, it's arduous to dispute the Boilermakers because the No. 1 workforce for the time being.