Matt Painter Explains How Purdue Can Counter Texas A&M's Physical Style
Purdue is going to have its hands full with Texas A&M on Saturday in the Indy Classic. The greatest strength for the Aggies is one of the glaring weaknesses for the Boilermakers — at least through the first month of the season.
Texas A&M enters Saturday's Indy Classic matchup against Purdue as one of the top rebounding teams in the country. Led by Andersson Garcia, Henry Coleman III and Solomon Washington, the Aggies are averaging 43.1 rebounds per game, ranking 10th in college basketball.
More impressively, the Aggies are averaging 17.2 offensive rebounds per game, which leads the NCAA. It's going to create some problems for Purdue, a team that has struggled on the glass through the first 10 games of the season.
"They recruit towards it, they commit to it and even when it goes against them in transition, they stay with it, because in their mind it offsets what you're going to get in transition," coach Matt Painter said. "So, if you give a great effort on the glass, you give a great effort in transition and you've committed to that — now he makes it really hard on you."
Five different Aggies are averaging more than 4.0 rebounds per game this season. Garcia leads the way with 7.4 per game and Coleman and Washington are grabbing 6.3 and 6.2 per contest, respectively. Jace Carter and and Pharrel Payne are both collecting 4.1 boards per game.
What makes Texas A&M such a challenging matchup is that, at times, they're content to settle for a bad shot while understanding they've got an advantage on the offensive glass. In that way, it could be difficult for Purdue to get stops.
"Sometimes, guys will take really tough ones. But you'll also see, when you hit pause on that remote, they've got two or three guys anchored down there," Painter said. "They know, he might make this, but if he misses it it's still going to be a positive play for us because we're in good rebounding position. They do that a lot."
It's been no secret that Purdue has struggled on the glass at times this season. Trey Kaufman-Renn has been the most productive, grabbing 6.7 rebounds per game. But by playing a smaller lineup, the Boilers are more reliant on Cam Heide, Myles Colvin and Braden Smith to crash the glass.
For Purdue to contend on the boards on Saturday, Painter says it's going to take an effort from everybody on the court.
"You don't make excuses, you go get the basketball," Painter said. "You step to people and you be as physical as you can be and then you go and get it. You give second and third efforts. You try to match their intensity.
"Then, you've got to push the basketball. You've got to push the basketball, especially with their bigs. You've got to run those guys, but that's easier said than done."
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