SPOKANE, Wash. -- It almost sounds trite, but winning the battle of the boards will be the biggest key for Texas A&M and Purdue if they are to advance to the Sweet 16 in Houston.
And if the trend continues, one would have to give the fifth-seeded Aggies the edge in their second-round NCAA tournament matchup with the fourth-seeded Boilermakers.
A&M has outrebounded its opponents in 10 of the last 13 games, while Purdue has grabbed more rebounds than its opponents in only three of its last eight.
"When we have been competitive on the glass, we have won. It's been that simple for us," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "[We have to] keep them off the glass and make them shoot over us, but that's easier said than done."
It has become especially difficult for the Boilermakers in the last six games since losing 6-foot-8 junior forward Robbie Hummel to a knee injury. Hummel averaged 6.9 rebounds a game.
Purdue starts four players 6-4 or shorter and will be smaller than A&M at every position except center, where 6-10 JaJuan Johnson has been asked to do a lot.
"We have to use our small-ball, so to speak," Painter said. "We have to use that as an advantage. If that becomes a disadvantage, we're in trouble."
Twice since Hummel's injury, the Boilermakers have been outrebounded by more than 20. In Friday's 72-64 victory, Purdue was beaten by seven on the boards.
Overall the Boilermakers have been average on the boards, with a rebounding margin of minus-1 for the season.
A&M 6-9 senior Bryan Davis has the best individual rebounding stats among the two teams at 7.9 per game, which is nearly a whole rebound better than Johnson, a second-team All-Big Ten performer.
"I think that we come out and establish [our size advantage] from the beginning of the game and [show] that we're going to take care of the boards," Davis said. "I think with the guys that we have on the boards, I think we can really do some damage."
In the two games the Boilermakers were most dominated on the glass, they lost by nine to Michigan State and 27 to Minnesota. The most telling number, though, in those two games was Purdue scored only 44 and 42 points, respectively.
"[Rebounding] isn't [the Aggies'] only focus," Painter said. "Sometimes you play a team that can really rebound and if you keep them off the glass you can beat them. They have proven with their schedule what they have been able to accomplish and that they can play a couple different ways."
Ironically, it was the Aggies that had trouble in the rebounding category early in the season. A&M coach Mark Turgeon constantly said it was his worst rebounding team ever.
"I probably said that 50 times early in the season," Turgeon said. "We were just getting whipped on the boards. But I think it came down to when D-Ro [Derrrick Roland] got hurt we had to change our lineup. "
A&M moved 6-7 Khris Middleton from the power forward spot to small forward, and 6-8 David Loubeau was inserted into the starting lineup. The Aggies have also had little dropoff rebounding-wise when Nate Walkup and Ray Turner come off the bench.
Walkup averages 3.3 rebounds in 17 minutes a game and Turner pulls down 2.6 rebounds in just 9.4 minutes a game.
The bigger A&M lineup also presents problems for the Boilermakers, who will likely put 6-3 Chris Kramer on Loubeau, who scored 14 points in A&M's 69-53 win over Utah State on Friday.
Kramer was the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year, but he was guarding small forwards and shooting guards until Hummel went down.
"He's obviously a very skilled player. He has a lot of moves in the low box," said Kramer of Loubeau. "[I have to] try and get in front of him, not get in positions where I'm deep, where I'm very vulnerable."
Kramer added he'll have to get help from his teammates.
One sure thing, according to Turgeon, is that Kramer won't get bailed out by the Boilermakers playing a zone.
"No. I think they had one possession in a zone against Minnesota [in the Big Ten] and that was a mistake," Turgeon said. "They are just not going to do it."
Turgeon also wasn't sold on Kramer always guarding Loubeau. He or someone else the same size, though, will have to pick up either Loubeau or Davis.
At the other end, A&M must stop Johnson and E'Twaun Moore, a first-team All-Big Ten player.
The 6-4 Moore averages 16.6 points a game but has not had a game in which he has shot 50 percent since Hummel was injured, and defenses could gameplan to stop just Moore and Johnson.
"E'Twaun's been very consistent for us and he's had a stretch of five or six games in the past three years where he's had a little bit of a struggle shooting," Painter said. "But every big-time scorer does and he's no different. We're coming back to him."
Nobody other than Johnson and Moore averages better than 6.7 points a game for the Boilermakers.
TEXAS A&M MEN
* Sunday's NCAA tournament South Regional second-round game: No. 5 seed Texas A&M (24-9) vs. No. 4 Purdue (28-5), approx. 4:10 p.m. in Spokane, Wash.
* TV/radio: KBTX, Ch. 5/WTAW, 1620 AM
TEXAS A&M (24-9)
PLAYER POS. HT. WT. CL. PPG RPG
Dash Harris G 6-1 175 So. 5.0* 3.3
Donald Sloan G 6-3 205 Sr. 18.0 3.7
Khris Middleton F 6-7 215 Fr. 7.3 3.6
David Loubeau F 6-8 230 So. 9.2 4.7
Bryan Davis F 6-9 250 Sr. 9.4 7.9
PURDUE (28-5)
PLAYER POS. HT. WT. CL. PPG RPG
E'Twaun Moore G 6-4 184 Jr. 16.6* 2.7
Lewis Jackson G 5-9 165 So. 2.2* 2.9
Chris Kramer G 6-3 214 Sr. 6.3 2.9
Keaton Grant G 6-4 201 Sr. 6.6 2.7
JaJuan Johnson C 6-10 215 Jr. 15.2 7.1
*assists per game
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