Hours before No. 17 Texas A&M men’s basketball’s game against No. 11 Purdue at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, a passionate — or perhaps intoxicated — Boilermaker fan spotted an Aggie fan sporting maroon outside the arena.
“Hell yeah,” the fan yelled. “It’s about to be a bad day to be a goddamn Aggie.”
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
The Aggies downed Purdue 70-66 for a major non-conference victory in the Indy Classic, despite a rowdy pro-Boilermaker crowd in what felt like a true road game for A&M.
“You’re not going to beat a team as good as they are in this environment by more than a possession or two,” coach Buzz Williams said. “And I think the more you can understand the value of each possession, and the more you can be comfortable in being uncomfortable, at least it gives you a chance.”
A&M was able to out-rebound and out-muscle a Purdue team that ranks eighth in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom. Purdue coach Matt Painter said the intensity was just too much for the Boilermakers to handle.
“I love their toughness,” Painter said. “I love how hard they play … Nobody feels good about it, but we’re definitely a better team for playing them. Because if you can handle that physicality and realize, that’s always your measuring stick, right? So when you play people, ‘Oh, that’s what it looks like.’”
Beginning beyond the arc
It took a strong shooting performance in the first half to keep the Aggies ahead of the Boilermakers 38-35 at halftime.
Senior guard Zhuric Phelps got things started early with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to give A&M its first five points — but it wasn’t a one-man show.
Phelps, graduate G Hayden Hefner and senior forward Andersson Garcia combined to go 4-6 from beyond the arc in the first half and graduate G Wade Taylor IV secured a pair of treys of his own as the Aggies shot 50% from three — an uncharacteristically good showing, considering they came into Indy shooting a mere 30% from deep.
“It was a really good first half,” Phelps said. “Just the confidence we have in each other, and from the staff as well, just to shoot the ball: ‘If it’s open, if you’re open, shoot it.’ And we had a lot of open ones today, and they just fell.”
Payne in the paint
But it wasn’t just outside shooting that contributed to the Aggies’ victory: junior F Pharrel Payne was a standout scorer in the paint, going a perfect 6-6 from the field and 4-7 from the line with 16 points as he led all scorers — and he added nine rebounds and a pair of blocks to his total, as well.
It came against a familiar opponent, as Payne played statistically his best game as an Aggie against a Big Ten team he faced during his time with Minnesota.
“It means everything to me,” Payne said. “It’s just going out and competing. I would say all the guys love competing.”
Those performances were enough to get past the Aggies’ biggest woe: turnovers. After giving up the ball just nine times against Texas Tech, A&M had ten turnovers in the first half alone. It finished the day with 18 — while forcing 16 Boilermaker turnovers of their own, enough to pull off the upset against a team the Aggies knew would be a tough test.
“Both teams played incredibly hard, very physical.” Williams said. “ … I think that some of the guys on our team that are probably basketball junkies are aware of Purdue’s consistency during their basketball career, but I think that our coaches did a good job of presenting how good they are.”
Stacking the resume
A&M’s win over Purdue gives the Aggies not only a ranked win, but their fifth straight victory — all against power conference opponents.
Williams, who has placed a major focus on non-conference scheduling, says he expects the game to count as a Quad 1A win by Selection Sunday. He says the grueling schedule takes a genuine toll on the program on all fronts.
“What I didn’t realize in signing all of these contracts was the wear and tear that this puts on your program.” Williams said. “Physically, that’s easy to figure out, but the mental and emotional fight this takes, we’re playing all over the country. We’re playing less home games than we’ve ever played. We’re playing less Quad 4 games than we’ve ever played.”
But for the Aggies, it has worked out so far. And Williams says the team recognizes what the scheduling gamble paying off means for A&M.
“When you have these results, it makes it seem like, ‘Wow, that was smart.’” Williams said. “But also, this is a two possession game. Texas Tech was a two possession game. Rutgers was a two possession game. Creighton was a two possession game … To be in this position, we feel incredibly grateful because we understand how thin the margin is.”
