TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Arkansas State and McNeese State challenged No. 2 Alabama basketball more than most mid-majors, but the Crimson Tide’s first big test will come Friday night at No. 13 Purdue.

Alabama will be the highest-ranked opponent to visit Mackey Arena since 2011 when then-ranked No. 2 Ohio State suffered a 76-63 defeat to then-No.11 Purdue. The Tide is also the highest-ranked non-conference opponent to play Purdue inside Mackey Arena since the venue’s first game in 1967 when defending champion UCLA beat the Boilermakers 73-71.

Alabama and Purdue faced off on the hardwood last season with the Boilermakers recording a 92-86 win behind two-time Naismith Award winner Zach Edey. The Tide is currently a 2-point favorite heading into Friday’s matchup.

Here’s everything you need to know about the game.

Who: No. 2 Alabama (3-0) at No. 13 Purdue (3-0)

When: 6 p.m. CT, Friday, Nov. 15

Where: Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana

Watch: Peacock (play-by-play: Paul Burmeister, analyst: Robbie Hummel, sideline: Carolina Pineda)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (play-by-play: Chris Stewart, analyst: Bryan Passink, engineer: Tom Stipe)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 18.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.7 apg, 50.0% FG, 42.9% 3-pt

Latrell Wrightsell Jr: 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 12.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.7 apg, 42.9% FG, 31.8% 3-pt

Derrion Reid: 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, freshman

Stats: 7.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.7 apg, 50% FG, 50% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

Stats: 12.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, 58.8% FG, 28.6% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 10.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 0.3 apg, 92.3% FG

Braden Smith: 6-foot, 175 pounds, junior

Stats: 15.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 9.3 apg, 45.2% FG, 44.4% 3-pt

Fletcher Loyer: 6-foot-5, 180 pounds, junior

Stats: 17.0 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, 65.4% FG, 75.0% 3-pt

Gicarri Harris: 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, freshman

Stats: 5.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 42.9% FG, 30.0% 3-pt

Trey Kaufman-Renn: 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, junior

Stats: 15.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.7 apg, 64.0% FG, 33.3% 3-pt

Will Berg: 7-foot-2, 260 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 5.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 85.7% FG

As head coach Nate Oats put it Thursday, Alabama’s non-conference schedule “doesn’t start out easy on the road.” It won’t get easier anytime soon either. Friday’s game at Purdue begins a grueling seven-game stretch for Alabama

After visiting the Boilermakers, the Tide will return to Alabama where it will face Illinois in Birmingham next Wednesday. From there, the team will travel to Las Vegas for three games. Alabama is guaranteed to play No. 8 Houston (Nov. 26) and No. 24 Rutgers (Nov. 27) and will go up against one of No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 15 Creighton, San Diego State or Oregon on Nov. 30. Following its trip out west, Alabama will visit No. 10 North Carolina on Dec. 4 before finally hosting Creighton on Dec. 14.

Oats said his reasoning for scheduling the gauntlet run was to “test ourselves against the best teams in the country and see where we’ve got weaknesses and get our weaknesses better before conference play.”

The Tide will discover more about itself over the next month, but Oats believes those lessons will go beyond wins and losses. Alabama likely won’t sweep its upcoming seven-game stretch, but the high-profile matchups should provide a hint at whether or not the Tide has what it takes to make a repeat Final Four run this spring.

“It would be a hard stretch to win all seven with road games and neutrals and all that,” Oats said. “It would be great. I think we’re more than capable of winning all seven. But if we go 5-2, 6-1, whatever we go, 4-3, I don’t know, did we compete in every game? Did we give ourselves a chance to win? Did we execute? Did we get great shots? If they didn’t drop, they didn’t drop. Can we do that in all seven games?

“If so, I’m fine with whatever the record ends up being. If we do all that, the record will take care of itself.”

Edey has moved on to the next level, and Purdue will be without another 7-foot-4 center in Daniel Jacobsen, as the freshman suffered a season-ending leg injury last week. Still, the Boilermakers offer plenty of size on the court.

Even without Jacobsen, Purdue’s roster features seven players listed at 6-foot-7 or taller. That includes 7-foot-2 sophomore Will Berg, who will likely get the start at the center position.

“This is a team that has maybe been the best in the country at developing bigs, getting good bigs with high potential that want to go there,” Oats said. “They do a great job of developing them. So they still have good bigs, and Cliff’s [Omoruyi] going to have to play really well for us.”

Alabama should be able to handle Purdue’s size. Omoruyi (6-foot-11) is one of six active Tide players listed at 6-foot-7 or taller.

Oats said he is looking to lean on Omoruyi as well as Grant Nelson (6-foot-11) and freshman Aiden Sherrell (6-foot-10) at the post position. At times, the Tide could even go with a three-big lineup featuring one of Omoruyi and Sherell as well as Nelson and Jarin Stevenson on the court.

Stevenson (6-foot-11, 215 pounds) primarily plays at the power forward position but has the athleticism to move to the wing if needed. Alabama experimented with him at that spot last time out when it looked to overpower a smaller McNeese State team with its size.

“We knew he was skilled enough,” Oats said of Stevenson. “He moves well, too. You watch him move, he moves like a two-guard, three-man on defense but he’s 6-10. It gives us a chance to get him more minutes, give Grant more minutes. It gives us a chance to be a great rebounding team. … I don’t know that we’re going to do it a ton, but it’s definitely an option we got.”

— Alabama has scored 100 or more points in a game 90 times throughout its program’s history. Oats’ teams are responsible for 22 of those (24.4%).

— Purdue owns a 6-15 record all-time against teams ranked No. 2 in the AP poll. However, the Boilermakers are 5-6 in their last 11 matchups against No. 2 teams and have a 3-1 record inside Mackey Arena during such games.

— Purdue is aiming for its 21st straight home victory. The Boilermakers have won 29 straight home games against non-conference opponents and are 59-2 in such matchups since the start of the 2015-15 season.

— Purdue hasn’t lost a non-conference regular-season game since Dec. 8, 2020, at Miami, Florida, a span of 38 games. The streak is tied for the fifth-longest in NCAA history.