Purdue vs. Alabama Match Preview – Players to Watch, Head to Head, and Prediction

The 2023 Hall of Fame Series is moving forward at full speed. The series kicked off on the 6th of November, 2023 at the T-Mobile Arena featuring 4 matchups which included 2 games between men’s and women’s college basketball teams each. Coming up next in the series is the highly-anticipated and most-awaited matchup between #4 Purdue and Alabama, at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.

Notably, the matchup will be the first Hall of Fame event to be held in Toronto since 2019. The contest is a part of a doubleheader, as #24 Clemson Tigers will be facing the undefeated TCU Horned Frogs in the second game. The matchup will be held at 12:30 pm, CT and will be televised at FOX.

Boilermakers vs. Crimson Tide, how good they are!

Purdue currently ranks No. 4 on the AP Top 25 list with a record of 8-1 out of a nine-game stretch they have played this season. Fearlessly moving forward, the Boilermakers are going on strong this season. So far they have a record of 29-6, finishing first in the Big Ten Men’s Basketball.

Moreover, they were ranked 3rd in the final AP Poll. Also, they became the Big Ten Reg Season Champ and the Big Ten Tourney Champ, having a 13-game winning streak, before losing against Rutgers as their first.

On the other hand, the Alabama Crimson Tide are playing commendably so far. They had a record of 6-2 and finished 1st in the SEC. But this upcoming matchup against the Boilermakers will be the first out of three straight matchups of Alabama’s face-off with a top-10 opponent. Further, Alabama’s next two matchups will be against No. 10 Creighton and No. 1 Arizona.

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Now, let’s look at both the team’s star players.

Standout players on the roster

Both teams are about to enter a battle in the Hall of Fame series, as Purdue’s Zach Edey and Alabama’s Mark Sears gear up for the face-off.

Talking about the former, Zach Edey, with his larger-than-life personality, poses a visual threat to opponents with a height of 7’4”. Hailing from Toronto, he has been a key contributor to the team’s ongoing success. This season, Edey has been averaging 23.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game, shooting with a field goal percentage of 63.6.

Meanwhile the latter, Mark Sears stands tall at a height of 6’1”. Hailing from Muscle Shoals, Alabama is one of the standout players on Crimson Tide’s roster. So far in the season, he has been averaging 19.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game, shooting with a field goal percentage of 57.1.

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Let’s see which team will rise above and which one will taste the dust as the most-anticipated matchup comes for a showdown.