Last year, one of the most anticipated matchups of the college basketball season took place at the Indy Classic, when Arizona traveled just an hour south of Purdue’s campus to play Purdue.

This year it’s #17 Texas A&M coming to Indianapolis to take on #11 Purdue in one of the best early matchups of the season.

The Aggies (8-2) have dominated offensively this season, earning four straight wins against quality opponents: #21 Creighton, Rutgers, Wake Forest and Texas Tech.

Purdue (8-2) bounced back from a loss on the road to Penn State last week with a big win over Maryland. It also picked up a win over top-10 Alabama.

Now the two teams will meet at noon Saturday in Indianapolis looking for a big win before the holidays.

Texas A&M isn’t just good at breaking glass, it’s the best. No. 1 in the nation. Purdue, one of Texas A&M’s least effective shooting teams, will play this year. That didn’t stop the Aggies from winning eight games and ranking among the top 20 teams in the country.

Buzz Williams’ Aggies don’t have a player taller than 6-9, but that hasn’t stopped them from hitting 43.3% of their misses this season. Five different Aggies grab at least four rebounds per game, with Andersson Garcia leading the way with 7.4 rebounds per game in just 24 minutes.

Texas A&M relentlessly tears up the court, making up for an offense that lacks elite shooting or execution. Aggies shoot 30% from three and don’t get many looks on the perimeter. Instead, the Aggies lean on their size throughout the lineup, their strength on the floor and constantly attacking the rim. It’s not often pretty, but it’s proven effective. The Aggies score 23.7% of their points from the free throw line, the thirtieth rate in the country.

This is in stark contrast to a Purdue team whose biggest inconsistency this year has been ball security and contesting possession. Purdue’s rebounding got better as the season went on, but Purdue struggled on the glass. Part of Purdue’s rotation change and moving two bigger wings into the starting lineup, Camden Heide and Myles Colvin, is because the two athletic wings did a good job on the glass for Matt Painter.

“As long as we can recover,” Matt Painter said yesterday, talking about his set rotation and starting lineup. “We have a good offensive line-up to start with.”

That brings us to the defense of Texas A&M, another program whose defensive identity is based on forcing turnovers. Aggies are another team that forces turnovers on more than 20% of the possessions they defend. Aggies are long on defense and on the wings, which makes them versatile on defense. They will cover and switch and try to attack the ballplayers, something Purdue has struggled with in its two losses this season.

In Purdue’s two road losses to Marquette and Penn State, there were 39 turnovers in both games.

Purdue has only committed 81 turnovers in its other 8 games. When Purdue protects the ball, it generally wins. That’s how efficient and effective Purdue’s offense was.

All the Aggies aggression on defense could mean potentially dangerous returns for a Purdue team that is shooting over 40% from three this season. Texas A&M allows a lot of three-point shots. Through their rotations, help and chaos, shooters can break free. Something Purdue can utilize in a unique way. Not only is Braden Smith the elite playmaker in college basketball, Trey Kaufman-Renn continues to emerge as one of the best big men in the country.

It’s been an evolution that has emerged from the shadows over the past three seasons, but now it’s burning brightly as Purdue’s rotation has become clearer and spacing has become Painter’s focus.

“Trey has become another decision-maker for us,” Painter said of TKR, which has the team’s second-highest assist rate at nearly 20%. “But it only happens at a distance.”

This gap is sufficient thanks to the inclusion of Heide and Colvin in the starting lineup. TKR was arguably Purdue’s best player this season. Expect him to be the best player on the field against an Aggies team that doesn’t have the size to keep up with him down low.

Purdue has the opportunity to celebrate the program’s most successful calendar year in program history. In 2024, Purdue has won the Big Ten, reached the Final Four and then the National Title Game, selected the National Player of the Year in the lottery and is once again a team contending for a conference and national title.

It currently sits just outside the top ten at number 11, but has two semi-neutral games against ranked opponents next week. #21 Texas A&M on Saturday, then Purdue travels to Alabama to face #2 Auburn.

Purdue already has one win against a #2 Alabama State team, beating the Crimson Tide at home 87-78. Now there is a chance to get two more wins against ranked opponents before the New Year.