Purdue falls to Texas A&M in Indianapolis INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Purdue went into an offensive lull in the second half and were not able to dig themselves out of the deficit late and lost to Texas A&M, 70-66, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Purdue went scoreless for seven minutes in the second half. Texas A&M was able to build a 12 point lead in that time, going on a 10-0 run. The Boilermakers were also out-rebounded by 11. Texas A&M pulled down 14 offensive rebounds, an offensive rebound rate of 50%. They came into the game as the best offensive rebounding team in the country, pulling down 43.4% of their misses heading into the game. “We have the capabilities to take care of the basketball and we didn’t, and I thought that was the difference” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. “Just the possessions there in the game, it’s been for us sometimes our ability to shoot and playmake can save us in a game. And tonight, the shots didn’t go down.” Braden Smith led the Boilermakers with 15 points. Only six Purdue players scored. All six of them had nine points or more. Trey Kaufman-Renn was held to his lowest scoring game of the season with just 11 points. He shot 3-9 from the floor and had five turnovers. Fletcher Loyer was able to get out in transition and knock down shots in the first half, scoring 12 points in the first 20 minutes. But, Texas A&M took him out of the game in the second half and he didn’t score at all, going 0-3 from the floor. “Nobody feels good about it, but we’re definitely a better team for playing it, because if you can handle that physicality and realize, that’s always your measuring stick right? Painter said. “So when you play people, that’s what it looks like. And we’ve faced a lot of people like that so far.” Purdue’s next game is on Saturday, December 21 against second ranked Auburn in Birmingham.