Purdue and Wisconsin Score Upsets in College Basketball

Two Big 10 teams pulled off upsets in college basketball nonconference action on November 15th.

In West Lafayette, Indiana, #13 Purdue is without center Zach Edey from last year’s national runner up squad. No problem. The Boilermakers got a 26 point performance from Trey Kauffman-Renn and a double double from Braden Smith on the way to an 87-78 win over #2 Alabama. Purdue is now 4-0 while Alabama dropped to 3-1. Purdue faces a tough task in their next game on November 19th, when they play at #15 Marquette. Alabama will be tested thoroughly in the next month with games at home against #8 Houston, #24 Rutgers, and #14 Creighton, as well as a road game at #10 North Carolina.

A much bigger upset occurred in Madison, Wisconsin, with the unranked Wisconsin Badgers hosting the #9 Arizona Wildcats. In a game featuring 63 fouls, and 87 free throw attempts, Wisconsin handed Arizona a 103-88 loss. Wisconsin was led by John Tonje, who scored 41 points, and hit 21 of 22 free throw attempts. The Badgers never trailed in the game, and Arizona only tied it once. Jaden Bradley led the Wildcats with 22 points. The Badgers improved to 4-0 while the Wildcats are 2-1. Arizona hosts #6 Duke on November 22nd. Wisconsin’s next game against a ranked team is the annual intrastate rivalry game versus #15 Marquette on December 3rd. That game will be in Milwaukee.