The Purdue Boilermakers will go to Tuscaloosa to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Thursday night in a huge matchup in college basketball. Both teams have 2-0 records and top 10 rankings, making this a game that will be a great early test for both teams. But how will this Big Ten vs SEC game go? Continue reading to get my Purdue vs Alabama prediction right here.
Alabama enters this game with momentum, coming off a seven-point victory over the St. John's Red Storm. They limited their turnovers to just seven and shot 48.1% from the floor in that win over Rick Pitino's team. Despite shaky free-throw shooting, they moved the ball well and held up in a hostile environment. Now Alabama is back at home and will look for another statement win.
Purdue has looked dominant during stretches but faced questions about their defense and rebounding in their 87-77 win over Oakland. They allowed 12 offensive boards and 17 second-chance points to a Golden Grizzlies team that had Purdue on upset alert for a large portion of that game before Purdue pulled away late. Braden Smith (20 pts, 9 ast, 7 reb against Oakland) and Fletcher Loyer are elite at the guard spots for this team. But their frontcourt had been missing key piece Trey Kaufman‑Renn due to a hip/back injury. Fortunately for Purdue, Kaufman-Renn is expected to return for this game.
This is the first true road game of the season for Purdue and it will be interesting to see how they hold up in a hostile environment in Tuscaloosa. Alabama is 1-0 at home this season, beating North Dakota by 29 points in their season opener. But this will be a tougher test at home for the Tide as they look to stay unbeaten.
Score Projection: Purdue 87 – Alabama 93
Win Probability: Alabama 60%, Purdue 40%
This is going to be a fantastic game between two teams that have legitimate national championship aspirations on Thursday night. My prediction for the outcome is for the game to go over the total of 174.5 points. Both of these teams could come away with the win in this game without any problems. But I think that the over is the best play here, as both of these teams are so explosive offensively. That and the fast pace of Alabama should push this game over the line.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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