BamaCentral Courtside after Alabama's 87-80 Loss to Purdue

Final thoughts from the BamaCentral crew on the court at Coleman Coliseum after the Crimson Tide falls in the top-10 matchup at home.

Amari Allen sinks a three in the first half of the game against Purdue on November 13, 2025. | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— After a frenetic first 38 minutes in a great game of college basketball between Alabama and Purdue, Houston Mallette's 3-pointer tied the game for the Crimson Tide with less than two minutes to go. But that would be the last basket Alabama would make as Purdue closed the game on a seven-point run to beat the Crimson Tide, 87-80.

Despite getting dominated on the glass (52 to 28), Alabama was still in the game until the end because of its 3-point shooting. The Crimson Tide made 16 shots from beyond the arc but only six in the second half.

"At the end of the day, the tougher team won tonight," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game. "They outrebounded us by 24. That's embarrassing."

Oats' disgust was evident throughout the postgame press conference, repeatedly mentioning that the tougher and harder-playing team won the game. Purdue has a big frontcourt, but Alabama has plenty of athletic and capable players to avoid a rebounding disparity that large.

Not a single Alabama player finished with more than four rebounds. Aden Holloway led the Crimson Tide in scoring with 21 points. Alabama's leading scorer on the season, Labaron Philon, struggled from the floor and finished with 11 points. He missed a crucial one-and-one with 1:16 to go and Alabama trailing 82-80.

Alabama didn't have answer for Purdue's Braden Smith, especially in the second half, who scored 21 of his 29 points after the break. Trey Kaufman-Renn absolutely dominated the Tide with 19 points and 15 rebounds. This marks the third straight season that the Boilermakers beat Alabama.

Next up, the Crimson Tide will face No. 14 Illinois in Chicago on Wednesday in the middle of Alabama's (2-1) four game stretch against ranked opponents.

"We've got four really good games in a row," Oats said. "We will find out what we're good at, what we've got to improve at. We've been sounding the alarm on the rebounding deal. It got exposed tonight. Our guys are going to have to decide whether they want to have a good season, or whether they're just going to get out-toughed every game for the rest of the year."

Watch the above video as BamaCentral's Hunter De Siver, Will Miller and Katie Windham share their final thoughts and takeaways from the court at Coleman Coliseum after the Crimson Tide's 87-80 loss to Purdue.