INDIANAPOLIS — After two Big Ten games, 11th-ranked Purdue transitions back into non-conference play for another marquee matchup Saturday afternoon, as it “hosts” No. 17 Texas A&M at the Indy Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
It’s the first game of a doubleheader. Butler will meet Wisconsin in the afternoon.
DETAILS: Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024 | Noon ET | TV: CBS (Rich Waltz, Bill Raftery, Jay Wright, Jon Rothstein) | Radio: Purdue Radio Network
PURDUE (8-2, 1-1 B1G): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
TEXAS A&M (8-2): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
A FEW THINGS ABOUT PURDUE
• Purdue has won seven of its past eight games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, including two NCAA Tournament games last March.
• This game is a one-off, meaning Purdue will not be traveling to Texas to face the Aggies in return for them playing in Indy. Next year’s Indy Classic is expected to include Auburn, in exchange for Purdue meeting the Tigers in Birmingham next weekend.
• Coming off a tough win over Maryland in Mackey Arena, Purdue’s now eighth nationally in offensive efficiency, top-20 in effective field goal percentage and top-10 in three-point percentage.
• Purdue’s opponents have averaged 12.5 points off turnovers against it, accounting for 18 percent of the points Purdue has allowed this season. But 50 of those points came on the road in losses at Marquette and Penn State.
• Purdue has won six straight against the SEC, having beaten Alabama and Ole Miss this season, prior to neutral-site meetings with A&M and Auburn.
ABOUT THIS GAME
• This is A&M’s fourth game vs. the Big Ten already, as it has beaten Ohio State and Rutgers, but lost to Oregon.
• Texas A&M is ninth nationally in defensive efficiency, per KenPom, having faced a schedule to date that has included seven high-major-league opponents.
• The Aggies are No. 1 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, a staggering 43.3 percent. Their ineffciency offensively — 290th in effective field goal percentage, for one thing — should be framed against the reality that bad shots are fine if 43 percent of the misses are going to wind up back in your team’s hands.
The interior combination of former MInnesota player Pharrel Payne and Henry Coleman III (one of A&M’s four grad students) will be a handful up front for Purdue.
• Wade Taylor IV, another grad student, averages a team-best 16.1 points.
• Another blast from the past: Former Nebraska guard CJ Wilcher averages 10 minutes off the bench. Purdue should be well aware of what he can do as a shooter.
THREE KEYS FOR PURDUE
| REBOUNDING | EXECUTION | TRANSITION |
| Obviously. Texas A&M is going to send everyone to the glass. Purdue just needs to not let it get ugly. The keys are effort, energy and awareness. Everyone has to use their bodies and grab the ball when opportunities present themselves. | Purdue needs to be physical in its screening, its handoffs, its post positioning, etc., and savvy in its shot fakes, pass fakes, etc. because Texas A&M won’t make anything easy. No cheap fouls, either. | ‘Stealing points’ can decide games vs. great defensive teams and if the Aggies are going to overcommit to offensive rebounding, maybe there are some opportunities here for its athletes to outrun A&M’s size. |
This might be a rockfight decided by rebounds and turnovers, but if Purdue has to win ugly, it can do that. That’s sort of Big Ten basketball. Texas A&M isn’t a great offensive team, so every pick-six or putback Purdue allows is straight damage.
