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Purdue basketball to face 2024 Final Four team in nonconference series

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Purdue basketball did not get enough of one opponent from the 2023-24 season, officially confirming a future home-and-home series against a program that also reached the Final Four this year.

The Boilermakers confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Matt Painter’s squad will play a home-and-home series against Nate Oats’ Alabama program out of the SEC. The two sides faced off in Toronto this season, but the new series will feature games in Mackey Arena and on the road in Tuscaloosa.

The first game will be in West Lafayette and is set for Nov. 15, 2024. The return trip to Alabama will come during the 2025-26 season, but a date has not been confirmed yet.

This season, Purdue beat Alabama 92-86 in Toronto behind 35 points from Zach Edey and 27 points from Braden Smith. Mark Sears led the Crimson Tide with 35 points and 8 made 3-pointers in the loss.

The two programs were both in the Final Four, but neither had an answer for eventual national champion UConn. The Huskies beat Alabama in the national semifinals before beating Purdue for the title after the Boilermakers knocked off NC State in the Final Four.

As for the nonconference schedule, scheduling elite competition is nothing new for Painter. This past season, the Boilermakers faced a deep nonconference group that also included Xavier, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Marquette and Arizona. The year before, Purdue faced Marquette, West Virginia, Gonzaga, Duke and Florida State in the nonconference portion of the schedule.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.