Purdue and Texas A&M faceoff at the Indy Classic in a matchup of ranked teams; can the Boilermakers hold serve in their home state or will the Aggies grab a major December victory?
TV schedule: Saturday, December 14, 12:00 pm ET. CBS
Arena: Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
Plenty of good has been shown by Texas A&M (8-2) in the opening weeks of the season even if this team is far from perfect at this point. They lost on opening night at UCF without one of their stars but have picked up five wins over power conferences foes, including ranked wins over Ohio State and Creighton. Add last Sunday’s win against Texas Tech and this team is absolutely building something special with their early resume.
The key to watch for with these Aggies is of course Wade Taylor IV (16.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.5 apg), the star point guard and top scorer who might be one of the best players in a talent-packed SEC this season. Zhuric Phelps (13.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) is the aforementioned guard who missed the UCF loss and has played rather well when healthy on the court this season. Among the rest of the veteran talent on this roster, Henry Coleman (10.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) is really taking advantage of his final year of eligibility.
Texas A&M has worked their way to #17 in the AP Top 25 despite being just 24th in KenPom and 32d in the NET rankings. Despite their winning ways, this Aggies team has been dreadful from outside the arc, while their defense has actually been the unit leading them to some of these more recent wins. The bottom line is that this team must figure out the outside shot to have a chance at competing for the SEC crown.
Despite a few early challenges, Purdue (8-2) has their season starting off on a high note, with their mid-November win over Alabama still the high point in this season. The two losses came in their two road games, with double-digit defeats against Marquette and Penn State. However, this team has proven that they’ll be part of the equation in the Big Ten even with Zach Edey in the NBA.
In his absence, the Boilermakers are leaning heavily on junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (18.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg), who is really producing as a high level as the new focal piece in the frontcourt. Fletcher Loyer (13.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg) is making more than half of his 3-point attempts and continues to develop into a major scoring weapon. Fellow junior guard Braden Smith (13.2 ppg, 8.8 apg) continues establishing himself as one of the most talented point guards in the nation.
Even with last week’s loss, Purdue is still #11 in the AP Top 25 and are 13th in KenPom. They’re down to 27th in the NET but it’s too early in the year to fret about that figure. The Boilermakers are among the top 10 teams in offensive efficiency and really showed up in great wins over Alabama and Ole Miss in recent weeks. Kaufman-Renn is really picking up the mantle even if he’s not putting up the video game level of production that Purdue saw last season.
We’re certainly keeping an eye on how that elite Purdue offense goes up against Texas A&M’s strong defense. The Boilermakers have powered themselves to wins over strong teams and have been really efficient inside the arc in recent games. The Aggies have the talent to beat them using their defense if they can slow down Kaufman-Renn and not get outworked outside the arc.
It’s a bit unrealistic to expect the Aggies to suddenly break out of their shooting woes, especially on unfamiliar ground in Indianapolis. Their defense will have to get the job done, and they’ll need a classic effort from Taylor, an early favorite for All-Americans. The matchup between him and Smith will be exciting basketball, but we still feel a slight edge for the Boilermakers, especially if they can hit their shots early and often.
Prediction: Purdue 74, Texas A&M 71