Alabama men’s basketball had its first opportunity of the season Friday night to show just how deserving it was of all the preseason hype.
Sure the UNC Asheville, Arkansas State and McNeese games provided a glimpse of what this version of the Crimson Tide would look like. But none of those games provided near the same test of facing Purdue. The real first test of the season for the Crimson Tide.
No. 2 Alabama played its first road game of the season against No. 13 Purdue, and the Crimson Tide fell short. Alabama showed there’s still plenty of work to do.
The Crimson Tide had its moments but couldn’t find a way to win. Purdue beat Alabama 87-78 at Mackey Arena to hand the Crimson Tide (3-1) its first loss of the season.
Here are three takeaways from the game between No. 2 Alabama and No. 13 Purdue at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Alabama a different team without Cliff Omoruyi on the floor
It’s clear Alabama is at its best when Clifford Omoruyi is playing center.
He not only makes plays, scores buckets, grabs boards and gets blocks, but he also has an overall positive effect on the Crimson Tide. Omoruyi was the only player with a positive plus/minus at plus 11.
That’s not something unexpected or surprising. That’s a large part why Alabama wanted to bring him into the fold from Rutgers. It was most clear during this game, though.
It’s no coincidence that right after Omoruyi left the game with his third foul at the 9:26 mark, Purdue punctuated its biggest run of the day. CJ Cox then hit three straight 3-pointers on the next three possessions to put the Boilermakers on a 13-0 run over 2:15 and take a 72-65 lead with 8:17 left. Alabama never recovered from that run.
Omoruyi didn’t return to the game until about 4:30 remained, and he immediately picked up his fourth foul. That sent him back to the bench.
Omoruyi is a difference maker for Alabama, but he has to find a way to stay out of foul trouble. The Crimson Tide isn’t near as effective without him on the court right now.
Mark Sears has impact minimized
Sears didn’t play as well as he can, and as well as Alabama needed, against Purdue.
Sears missed a variety of shots and had a handful of turnovers. He scored in double figures, but he wasn’t the difference maker Alabama badly needed in crunch time.
Sears scored 15 points but went 5-for-15 shooting, 1-for-6 from deep, grabbed four rebounds, had six assists and four turnovers. He finished minus-nine in plus-minus.
Not a horrible stat line, but Alabama needed better from its motor in a tough road environment.
Labaron Philon can provide a spark
He might be a freshman, but it’s clear Philon has the ability to provide a spark.
He did when the Crimson Tide offense was sputtering in the first half.
Late in the first half, Philon had a run where he scored on three straight buckets over 65 seconds. That was the only period before the break where Alabama scored on three consecutive shots.
Over the course of those 65 seconds, Philon also grabbed a rebound in additions to his two layups and his 3-pointer, which was Alabama’s first of the game and only triple in the first half.
Sears made some plays late in the first half offensively, but Philon gets the credit for sparking the offense when it was struggling to make the most of good opportunities. Philon had 10 points, four rebounds and no turnovers in 11 minutes of play in the first half.
Philon continued to make an impact in the second half. He finished with 18 points while shooting 7-for-10 and 3-for-4 from deep. He also grabbed five rebounds and four assists.
The problem was he got in foul trouble. Philon fouled out in the final minutes, limiting his impact late in the game when Alabama badly needed another spark.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
