Purdue basketball entered the season top 15 in the nation and will face the No. 2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday, Nov. 15. However, the Purdue Boilermakers are dealing with some unfortunate injury news with their freshman big man Daniel Jacobsen.
“Purdue coach Matt Painter announced freshman Daniel Jacobsen has a right “lower-leg injury,” but the release specifically said it is not a knee or ankle injury. The 7-4 Jacobsen will undergo more scans to see the “severity” and what should happen next,” said Andy Katz on X, formerly Twitter.
Jacobsen suffered his injury during knee-to-knee contact in the first minute of Purdue's win Friday over Northern Kentucky. In his debut earlier in the week against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, he scored 13 points, grabbed seven boards, and had three blocks.
Coming out of high school, Jacobsen was a Purdue basketball four-star recruit. He was the No. 1 ranked player in New Hampshire, the No. 13 center in the country, and the No. 57 player overall. Now, he is a starter for the Boilermakers.
Purdue set to face No. 2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide
Conference play hasn't started and it won't for a while. However, that doesn't mean there won't be quite a few good, big-time matchups between out-of-conference opponents. For Purdue, it will be a showdown against the best in the SEC, the Crimson Tide.
Purdue is ranked No. 14 and will likely be a road or neutral site underdog. However, they get the game at home in the Mackey Arena, making for one of the best games so far this year.
For Alabama, they are led by superstar point guard Mark Sears, who entered the year as a pre-season All-SEC and All-American. In 2023, Sears averaged 21.5 points per game and led Alabama on a deep run into the NCAA Tournament.
After Sears, the starting five for the Tide are Labaron Philon, Latrell Wrightsell, Grant Nelson, and Clifford Omoruyi. At power forward, Nelson is the most notable of those four, also returning to the team after starting in 2023 alongside Sears.
On Purdue's side of things, they're looking to try and figure out how to replace superstar big man Zach Edey. Point guard Braden Smith is the Boilermakers leader, returning to the lineup after starting every game for the last two seasons. He doesn't score the most points, but he spreads the ball around in terms of assists.
After Smith, Purdue's starting five is Gicarri Harris, Fletcher Loyer, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Daniel Jacobsen. Caleb Furst or Kaufman-Renn will get the start at center if Jacobsen can't go.
Follow Us
Subscribe
