TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Braden Smith scored 29 points, including 21 in the second half, and No. 2 Purdue beat eighth-ranked Alabama 87-80 on Thursday night in the first matchup of top-10 teams this season.
Trey Kaufman-Renn added 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Boilermakers (3-0), who notched the program’s first road win against a top-10, non-conference opponent since winning at Louisville in 1982.
Purdue dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Crimson Tide 52-28. Alabama (2-1) kept it close by hitting 16 of 44 from 3-point range.
Aden Holloway led the Tide with 21 points. Taylor Bol Bowen added 13.
Houston Mallette’s 3-pointer tied the game at 80 with 1:42 remaining, but Smith took over from there. He drove for a layup on the other end and then hit two free throws with 47 seconds left to give the Boilermakers some breathing room.
The game featured 21 lead changes. Kaufman-Renn, Purdue’s leading scorer from last season, missed the first two games to injury and made his debut in Tuscaloosa. He had 17 points and eight rebounds in the first half.
NO. 17 MICHIGAN STATE 79, SAN JOSE STATE 60
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Jaxon Kohler had 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Jeremy Fears scored a career-high 15 points and had nine assists, and Michigan State beat San Jose State.
Michigan State (3-0) led by 23 points at halftime with Carson Cooper scoring 12 of his 17 points. The home team had a lackluster start of the second half and struggled to shoot before pulling away late in the game after Fears made a pair of 3-pointers and set Coen Carr up for an alley-oop dunk.
San Jose State (0-3) scored the first eight points of the second half and later pulled within 10 points, but couldn’t get closer.
Garland Colby scored 14 of his 22 points in the first half, shooting 6 for 10 while the rest of San Jose State’s team was 3 of 20 from the field. Moundi Yaphet had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the visitors.
Michigan State’s Kur Teng scored all of his 10 points in the first half, when he made 2 of 4 3-pointers and his teammates were 0 of 6 beyond the arc. Tom Izzo’s team finished 6 for 25 on 3-pointers, a game after missing 13 of 14 3-pointers in a win over then-No. 14 Arkansas.
Carr had eight points, five assists and provided a boost for his team and the fans with a series of dunks.
The Associated Press
