Takeaways from Alabama Basketball's Hard-Fought Loss to No. 4 Purdue

Blake Byler's thought and takeaways from a valiant Alabama effort in Toronto against one of the best teams in college basketball.

Alabama traveled north of the border to take on No. 4 Purdue in Toronto, Canada, and ultimately fell just short after an extremely tough game. 

Purdue center and reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey scored 35, matched by 35 from Alabama's Mark Sears. 

Here are a few of my thoughts and takeaways from the loss:

1. Alabama showed more fight than it has all season.

Alabama center Mohamed Wague stepped to the free throw line late in the second half, and the Fox broadcast camera captured a massive tear down the middle of his jersey. No other image could better capture the nature of Alabama vs Purdue on Saturday afternoon.

The game was a physical battle. From the opening tip, Alabama looked more engaged defensively than it had the entire season, and played with more activity and energy than anyone had seen thus far.

With that came heightened levels of hustle and toughness, especially from Wague, as well as the rest of Alabama's bigs. Alabama got into major foul trouble throughout the game, but that never affected the effort of Nick Pringle, Grant Nelson, or anyone else as they battled down low with the best big man in the sport.

Rotations from the bigs were sharper in a lot of instances. Effort on the glass was higher across the whole team. Though Wague played limited minutes with foul trouble, he proved his worth as a valuable piece of the starting lineup with the way he defended.

Even in the second half, as the foul trouble wore down the rotation, Alabama continued to fight and will itself back in the game. It's a great sight to see after watching Alabama's previous losses to Ohio State and Clemson, where a lack of intensity and effort is what led to the team's downfall in those games.

The Crimson Tide was blistering hot from beyond the arc in the first half, nailing 13 of its 25 attempts, and even when that number dipped drastically in the second half, there was no drop-off in competitive fire or intensity.

After watching the way Alabama competed for 40 minutes this afternoon, you can't help but wonder what their record would be if they'd played with that level of hustle and passion in every game this season.

There's no way to go back and find out, but what they can do is learn that lesson from this game, and take it into the rest of them from here on out.

2. Mark Sears is playing like one of the best guards in the country.

We already knew Mark Sears was good. Even coming into today's game, he was leading the SEC in scoring average and had looked clearly like Alabama's best player.

But against Purdue he took his game to an even higher notch. He scored 35 points, his highest ever in an Alabama uniform, and did so on relatively efficient shooting. He made 13-of-25 shots from the field, including 8-for-16 from 3-point range.

Alabama led by nine at one point early in the second half, but from there Purdue found a rhythm offensively with Edey and looked primed to run away with the game. But every time it looked like it was over, Sears hit a big shot or made a big play to keep Alabama in it.

The 3-ball wasn't going for much of the rest of the Alabama team in the second half, so Oats turned to his best player time and time again, and Sears delivered. Everything from catch-and-shoot threes off flare screens to willing his way to the basket for tough finishes, Sears did everything in his power to keep Alabama within striking distance as the game came down to the wire.

It's safe to say that right now, Sears is playing not just at an All-SEC level, but an All-American level.

3. Overall, the result was encouraging.

This may sound like too many positive takeaways coming off of a loss, but I truly feel more encouraged about the direction of this Alabama team leaving this game than I did coming into it.

There are things the Crimson Tide could have done better in order to potentially come away with a win, such as taking care of the ball down the stretch or making a few more free throws, but you truly felt like Alabama played a good game after watching it.

That's the exact opposite feeling I had after watching the losses to Ohio State and Clemson. After those games, there were legitimate concerns about the ability to give consistent effort on defense and the ability to play with high intensity and compete for 40 minutes. We hadn't yet seen confirmation that this team could play with those things against a high-level opponent, until now.

Now, Oats, his staff, and the players have seen what they are capable of against an elite team when they put it all together and play their best basketball. That's huge for their confidence entering these next two games against two more elite teams, but also huge for the growth of this newly-assembled team as conference play gets closer by the day.

Oats schedules these types of games early in the season to learn things about his teams and make them better. One thing is for sure, Alabama got better today.

4. A few more things...

• The game's officiating crew, including Tony Greene, DJ Carstensen, and Randy Richardson, called 25 fouls on Alabama compared to just 15 on Purdue. Both Wague and Pringle fouled out in a combined 28 minutes.

• The loss drops Nate Oats' record to 5-5 against AP top-10 teams during his time at Alabama. He gets two more chances to improve that record over the next two weeks. 

Mark Sears Goes Toe-to-Toe with Zach Edey in Entertaining Battle Across the Border