Men's Basketball Travels to No. 22/18 Purdue
12/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2010
| Alabama Basketball Preview - Alabama at Purdue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alabama (4-3) at Purdue (6-1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -
The University of Alabama men's basketball team faces its first true road test of the season on Saturday when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind., to face No. 22/18 Purdue on ESPN2. Tipoff at Mackey Arena is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CST with the game also being available online at ESPN3.com
The Crimson Tide hits the road with a 4-3 record after two straight wins at home including a 72-50 win over South Alabama on Wednesday evening. The Boilermakers return to Mackey Arena with a 6-1 mark after a 58-55 overtime win at Virginia Tech on Wednesday.
Last season, Purdue escaped Coleman Coliseum with a 73-65 win that saw the squad erase a 16-point second-half Tide lead and take 4-2 lead in the all-time series.
"This is a different challenge for us in terms of the caliber team we're playing in Purdue and it obviously being our first road game," Alabama head coach Anthony Grant said. "They are led by two outstanding guys, E'twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson, and they've got a great coach and their guys play to their identity on both ends of the floor."
The Tide will be looking for its first win away from Coleman Coliseum this season while Purdue is undefeated on its home floor and has outscored opponents by nearly 20 points per game.
Alabama will aim to add another strong defensive performance to its resume as South Alabama became the fourth opponent this season the Tide has held to 50 or fewer points and the fifth that has shot less than 40 percent from the field. Additionally, all seven of the Tide's opponents have turned the ball over at a higher rate than their season average.
The Tide's leading scorer, Tony Mitchell, makes the trip to Purdue on the heels of back-to-back double-doubles. Last Saturday, he scored 12 points with a career-high 15 rebounds against Alabama A&M and followed that up with 20 points and 13 rebounds against South Alabama on Wednesday.
Purdue is led by E'Twaun Moore with 19.9 points and JaJuan Johnson with 18.3 points per game. On Wednesday, the pair scored 43 of the team's 58 points against Virginia Tech.
