The Alabama 'Flamethrower' Matt Painter Thought Stopping Was Key to Purdue Win

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— In Alabama basketball's 103-96 win at St. John's over the weekend, guards Labaron Philon Jr. and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. combined for 42 points. On Thursday, back at home against No. 2 Purdue, the pair tallied 17 (Philon 11, Wrightsell six).

Guard play was going to be the difference in Thursday's game if Alabama were to win. Star Boilermakers point guard Braden Smith scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half, and forward Trey Kaufman-Renn took it to the Crimson Tide for the second straight year. Purdue won, 87-80.

With no Mark Sears to run point for Alabama this season, unlike in the last two iterations of Alabama-Purdue, those duties have fallen to Philon. Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter praised him postgame, but he attributed an appreciable portion of his team's success to limiting Wrightsell, who had fewer points than total shots and only sank one bucket from three-point land.

"Not letting Wrightsell get going, and Philon, I always talk about this. If you got guys that can score the basketball, and if they have more shot attempts than points, you've done your job," Painter said. "Philon's a good player. He's a very good player. And we wanted to square the ball. We wanted to keep it in front of us... Not letting Wrightsell get going is big, man. He's a veteran. He's a flamethrower."

That Smith performed the way he did was no surprise to No. 8 Alabama (2-1). Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats called him the best point guard in the country during his postgame press conference. Kaufman-Renn, who missed Purdue's first two games of the regular season with a hip injury, scored 26 points against Alabama last November and 19 more on Thursday.

"Braden Smith's gonna find an answer to anything you do," Oats said. "Some of our rim reads weren't great... We got shooting all over the floor. I didn't like our aggressiveness off the dribble at times, particularly in the second half."

Alabama's guards were not completely absent from making a big scoring mark on Thursday's affair. Aden Holloway finished with 21 points, his second consecutive game with that output, and made five three-point baskets. Despite Wrightsell not scoring 17 again like he did at Madison Square Garden (Philon had 25 in that game), the Crimson Tide was in it, but found itself unable to withstand a 7-0 Purdue run to end the contest and a brutal minus-24 rebound differential.

"They got some pretty good production from their front line," Painter said. "Those guys made some shots. They made some threes. They did some good things, but, at the end of the day, like, outside of Holloway, nobody really got away from us."

The result of the game, in hindsight, was effectively decided when Philon missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with a minute and 16 seconds to play and the Crimson Tide trailing 82-80. Wrightsell hoisted up his final shot with 16 seconds on the clock, missing down seven with the matchup out of doubt. He went 2-for-9 from the field in his second game back from an Achilles injury that cost him most of last season.

Purdue (3-0) has now defeated Alabama three seasons in a row. The Crimson Tide's schedule is not set to get any easier. No. 14 Illinois is on the docket next on Nov. 19, a game that will be played at the United Center in Chicago.

"This win, you think, is great for us," Painter said, "but this loss right here could be the best thing that happens to them."

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