Keeping up with the tournament: Texas A&M senior Donald Sloan had a good answer for what team he might be paying special attention to or pulling for in the tournament.
"Us," Sloan said.
Sloan also mentioned he is a fan, having played against so many of the tournament teams throughout the season. He and Dash Harris both said watching the games was a way of relaxing, "kind of a way to chill and mellow out."
For the most part A&M's players were interested in two groups of teams -- other Big 12 schools and those in the South Region.
Of those that mentioned a particular team, it was interesting to hear that they all wanted Texas to win in the first round against Wake Forest.
"They let it slip away at the end, but I was pulling for them," Sloan said of the Longhorns' loss to Wake Forest in the first round.
The Villanova loss to St. Mary's on Saturday also caught the Aggie players' attention since the Wildcats were the No. 2 seed in A&M's region.
Derrick Roland, who said he spends much of his time keeping up with possible future opponents in the South Region, was quick to point out that he would use the Villanova loss as an incentive to not take anyone lightly in the tournament.
At the time the Aggies were giving their answers, No.1 Kansas had not started its game, a loss to Northern Iowa.
One player who said he hasn't watched much of the tournament was Bryan Davis.
"I try to watch other things, take my mind off of basketball pretty much," he said.
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How tall is he?: Basketball coaches are known for fudging on heights to make players sound more or less impressive, depending on what side they are on.
A&M's David Loubeau is a prime example. The low-post player earlier in the year was described by his coach, Mark Turgeon, as being 6-foot-7. On Saturday, Purdue coach Matt Painter described Loubeau as 6-10.
Loubeau, a sophomore, is listed at 6-8.
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Purdue's Chris not unlike A&M's Chris: Purdue's Chris Kramer will remind many Aggie fans of former A&M forward Chris Walker.
Kramer has the better resume, but like the 6-4 Walker, the 6-3 Kramer is known for his hustle plays and setting the tone with his defense, often times against players much bigger than him.
Neither scored much during their careers, but both were able to hit shots when left open.
Kramer has average 6.7 points a game his senior season. Walker averaged 3.8 points a game but hit 35 percent of his 3s his senior season, which was 2005-06.
Walker was dubbed "the powerless forward" by then-A&M coach Billy Gillispie because much of the time he had to guard the opponents' second biggest player. On Sunday, Kramer will play a similar role, having to guard either 6-9 Bryan Davis or 6-8 David Loubeau.
Kramer was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and will have to depend on his strength and determination, much like Walker did, to get the job done.
"He is a unique player and he gives them toughness," Turgeon said. "You look at all the hustle plays [in Friday's win against Siena] and he was right in the middle of it. He rubs off on the rest of the guys."
Sounds very familiar to how Gillispie described Walker, who went on to coach with Gillispie at Kentucky.
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Roland helping all he can: While the team waited in the locker room for their allotted practice time on the Spokane Arena floor, Derrick Roland sat in a chair among the players watching a Purdue game on his laptop.
"When I'm finished watching, I'll point out some things that they have to do defensively with guarding them," Roland said. "The big guy [JuJuan] Johnson, every time he backs down he takes a jump shot, I haven't seen a hook shot yet, and that can help B.D. [Bryan Davis]"
Roland has been out since Dec. 22 with a broken leg. The senior guard has continued to be the leader off the court, which he proved again Saturday.
"I've just got to make sure they are ready every game, every day," Roland said. "Make sure they are focused."
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Recovering point guards: A&M's Dash Harris returned Friday after missing the previous two games with a right wrist injury. He was a big asset on Friday defensively.
He says he's at 90-percent health.
Purdue's point guard, 5-9 Lewis Jackson, had two screws put in his foot after injuring it early in the season. Jackson returned Jan. 28 and has shown his worth, leading the team in assists six times since then.
He had nine assists and only one turnover Friday.
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Lots of respect: Utah State's Stew Morrill answered every question thrown his way Friday by commenting on how good Texas A&M was, especially defensively.
"We haven't played anybody as good as Texas A&M. They physically dominated us," said Morrill, who has been to the postseason 11 straight seasons. "They are all about being together and defending and playing good basketball. I had heard they were very good defensively, but to see it firsthand is pretty impressive."
Utah State was seventh nationally in field-goal shooting at 49 percent but shot only 39 percent in A&M's 69-53 victory Friday.
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