The Purdue players may not sleep well tonight, if it’s 70-66 that suggests Texas A&M will be in its nightmares.

The Aggies certainly seemed all over the court after harassing Purdue for a full forty minutes, forcing Purdue into one of its worst offensive performances in recent years and handing Purdue its second loss in three games.

Buzz Williams’ Aggies were known for their offensive rebounding and defense. Coming out of Indianapolis, both reputations will be fully intact after beating Purdue with 11 turnovers and forcing Purdue into 16 turnovers.

After a back-and-forth chaotic first half, Purdue trailed 38-35 at halftime. Texas A&M was at 50% from three, but Purdue had forced them into 10 turnovers to hang on.

Aggies came out well in the second half. Hayden Hefner hit a three-pointer and a turnover by Trey Kaufman-Renn led to another easy basket, extending A&M’s lead to 43-35.

Purdue’s offense came to life for perhaps the only time in the game. Kaufman-Renn found Heide for a dunk and then back-to-back layups by Myles Colvin cut the lead to 43-41. Camden Heide would then give Purdue a 44-43 lead and cap a 9-0 run.

From then on, Purdue didn’t have much offensive power.

Consecutive turnovers by Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer helped boost A&M’s offense, allowing the Aggies to extend their lead to 59-50. A scoreless streak of more than six minutes extended the Aggies’ lead to double digits.

Purdue battled back late to take the Aggies’ lead when Smith finally found Kaufman-Renn for a layup, then blocked two shots defensively and saved a loose ball by sliding on it near midcourt.

Purdue got away within one possession at 69-66, but time was running out for a comeback as Texas A&M got just enough out of the charity stripe to hold.

Again, turnovers derailed a Purdue team that had to rely on outside shooting, with Kaufman-Renn largely shut down by the Aggies’ aggressive double teams and transition. Kaufman-Renn had just 11 points and 4 rebounds while turning the ball over five times.

Fletcher Loyer was outstanding in the first half, scoring 12 points on 5 of 5 shooting, but did not score in the second half.

Braden Smith was unusually careless with the ball, especially in the first half, he finished the game with 6 turnovers and had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.