Tag: Purdue Basketball

USC women’s basketball waits for details on Kiki Iriafen injury status

USC women’s basketball is waiting to see how bad Kiki Iriafen’s right knee injury actually is. We will update you when we learn more.

The USC women’s basketball team has spent the past week in the state of Indiana. The Trojans played the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday and stuck around in the state to play the Purdue Boilermakers on Wednesday. USC blew out Purdue, but the win was accompanied by a right knee injury to Trojan star Kiki Iriafen. She knocked knees with a Purdue player in the second quarter and limped off the court. She did not re-enter the game after the incident.

USC women’s basketball will simply have to wait to see if this injury will cause Kiki Iriafen to miss any games. If there is any good news to be found here (before we gain more details about the injury), it is that USC doesn’t play again until Thursday, January 30. The Trojans host Minnesota after an extended layoff. If USC had a game this coming weekend, Iriafen might not have been likely to play. If the injury does turn out to be relatively minor, Iriafen might have a chance to play against Minnesota and ultimately not skip the Trojans’ next game.

We will keep you updated on Kiki Iriafen’s health status. Watch this space.

USC women’s basketball uses 31-0 run to demolish Purdue

USC 31, Purdue 2. That was the second-quarter score of this game.

The USC women’s basketball team, fresh off a win over the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington on Sunday, made the short commute to West Lafayette to face Purdue on Wednesday night. The Trojans started slowly but then did something special in the second quarter.

USC trailed early and was one point behind Purdue after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Trojans annihilated the Boilermakers. USC scored 31 straight points and 41 of 45. USC outscored Purdue in the second quarter by a margin of 31-2. That’s wild. The Trojans built a 28-point halftime lead and cruised to a 79-37 victory to move to 8-0 in the Big Ten and 18-1 overall.

Avery Howell came off the bench for USC women’s basketball in this game and delivered a supremely efficient performance. Howell was 4 of 7 on 3-pointers and 6 of 6 from the free throw line. She poured in 18 points in just 23 minutes to give the USC reserves a lot to cheer about.

JuJu Watkins scored 16 points and Kennedy Smith added 12 for the Trojans, who won’t play again until January 30 versus Minnesota.

USC bench should be hungry and ready to excel versus Purdue

The USC bench didn’t do much against Indiana. It’s important to step up against Purdue on Wednesday night.

The USC women’s basketball team fought hard for a really good road win at Indiana on Sunday. The Trojans were pushed for 40 minutes by the Hoosiers. They were playing a morning game according to the Pacific time zone. They were rusty after a week off. Indiana was mad after losing to Illinois a few days earlier. The Indiana crowd was raucous and spirited. A lot of dynamics were working against the Trojans, so even though IU was not ranked in the top 25, that’s a quality win. It’s a win which is magnified by Ohio State not passing a similar road test at Penn State. The Buckeyes fell behind USC in the Big Ten standings. The Trojans now turn their attention to Purdue, and one key seems paramount in this upcoming contest on Wednesday.

USC women’s basketball needs a good, productive game from its bench.

Lindsay Gottlieb rode her starting five hard against Indiana. There are 200 minutes in a regulation-length game. USC’s starting five played 173 minutes, the bench just 27. Only one bench player, Kayleigh Heckel, played more than seven minutes (14). None of USC’s bench players scored a point or made a big imprint on the game. Against Purdue, a team which is much weaker than Indiana, USC should not only be able to get a lot of minutes for its bench, but also get significant production.

Keep in mind that USC has another full-week layoff after the Purdue game. The January 22 contest versus the Boilermakers is followed by a Jan. 30 game versus Minnesota, with nothing in between. If the starters played a ton of minutes against Indiana, the bench needs to really pick up the slack against Purdue and get some good work in, heading into the Minnesota game.

USC-Purdue sets up as a high-volume bench game for the Trojans. Let’s see what happens.

Texas A&M men’s basketball team embracing being ‘one of the oldest teams in the country’

“Last year, we had a tremendous season, a lot of memories. What happened to us last year, we took this year and we’re just building off it.”

The No. 17 Texas A&M men’s basketball team earned an impressive 70-66 victory this past weekend against No. 11 Purdue.

After the win Saturday, Aggies senior point guard Wade Taylor IV spoke to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

“It just speaks to our togetherness. Coach always telling us we’re one of the oldest teams in the country, so I think that showed today, our maturity. I think everybody came to play today and were excited. We love 11 a.m. games. We wake up early every day. I think today was a great win for us,” Taylor said. “I think the lessons we’ve learned (is different). Last year, we had a tremendous season, a lot of memories. What happened to us last year, we took this year and we’re just building off of it.

“We have a lot of guys back from that team, a lot of us felt that hurt. We’re just excited to have a go one more time.”

Texas A&M swapped ranking spots with the Boilermakers following the victory.

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Williams says that the Aggies men’s basketball ‘staff doesn’t get the credit they deserve’

“I think our staff doesn’t get the credit they deserve for how they’re implementing the plan and our guys are receiving it,” Williams said.

After the Texas A&M men’s basketball team beat Purdue on Saturday afternoon, head coach Buzz Williams spoke to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, who asked him about what he learned about the Aggies this past weekend.

“I think I probably knew it, and I don’t mean that arrogantly,” Williams said. “The consistency of those guys, their character, their maturity, their experience. I also think that we’ve had a lot of reps over the first six weeks of the season. This is very similar to what we did last weekend, this sort of environment.

“Our guys just continue to improve. I think our staff doesn’t get the credit they deserve for how they’re implementing the plan and how our guys are receiving it. That’s easy to say, that’s hard to do.”

Texas A&M (9-2) is set to host Houston Christian University at Reed Arena on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. on SEC Network.

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SEC Basketball standings after Texas A&M’s 70-66 win over Purdue

Texas A&M’s win over Purdue sets the Aggies up for a challenging, but exciting SEC slate

Texas A&M (9-2) looks like one of the best teams in the country after the Aggies defeated No. 11 Purdue 70-66 in the Indy Classic on Saturday afternoon, but looking around the rest of the SEC, A&M will face weekly challenges right out of the gate.

In his sixth season, head coach Buzz Williams recognizes that achieving success in one of the most respected and challenging conferences in college basketball comes with its difficulties.

Most importantly, defense travels every game, and the Aggies look like one of the best units in the country thus far. On Saturday, the SEC dominated again, starting with A&M and ending with Alabama’s win over Creighton, a team the Aggies defeated on a neural court earlier in the year.

Outside of LSU’s loss to SMU, 15 conference teams won their respective game, capped off with Texas’s blowout 121-57 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Here are the updated SEC Basketball standings ahead of the final week of nonconference play:

  1. No. 7 Alabama (8-2)
  2. Arkansas (9-2)
  3. Auburn (9-1)
  4. No. 9 Florida (10-0)
  5. Georgia (9-1)
  6. No. 5 Kentucky (10-1)
  7. LSU (8-2)
  8. No. 19 Ole Miss (9-1)
  9. No. 25 Mississippi State (9-1)
  10. Missouri (9-1)
  11. No. 13 Oklahoma (10-0)
  12. South Carolina (7-3)
  13. Tennessee (10-0)
  14. Texas (9-2)
  15. Texas A&M (9-2)
  16. Vanderbilt (9-1)

Note: These standings update the SEC’s cohesive win total before conference play begins in January.

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Texas A&M rises in the NET rankings after 70-66 win over Purdue

Texas A&M’s rise in the NET rankings is no surprise after the Aggie’s 70-66 win over Purdue

Texas A&M (9-2) is off to the best start of any season under head coach Buzz Williams, as the Aggies have reeled off five consecutive wins after defeating No. 11 Purdue 70-66 on Saturday afternoon.

Led by an elite defensive performance and impressive decision-making from star point guard Wade Taylor IV, this looks like A&M’s best roster under Williams, especially after witnessing the play of junior forward Pharrel Payne, who played his best game of the year after finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes.

With the win, Texas A&M’s nonconference success has set the Aggies up well before entering SEC play, as the conference looks good from top to bottom. However, the road ahead is challenging as the Aggies look to end nonconference play with two final matchups against Houston Christian and Abilene Christian.

After the win, Texas A&M has risen six spots in the NET rankings to No. 26, including 2-1 Quad 1 and 3-1 Quad 2 win/loss records. Out of the stacked SEC, Texas A&M is the 9th-ranked conference team in the rankings.

Texas A&M will return home to face Houston Christian at Reed Arena on Dec. 20 at 1:00 p.m. CST. The game can be watched on ESPN+/SECN+.

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Everything HC Buzz Williams, Pharrel Payne and Zhuric Phelps said after 70-66 win over Purdue

Texas A&M head coach Williams, Phelps, and Payne had to say after 70-66 win over Purdue at the Indy Classic

Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams intentionally scheduled his non-conference games, and after an early season stumble against UCF, the Aggies have won 9 of the next ten games.

No. 11 Purdue was the latest victory after a 70-66 win where the Aggies played smothering defense and shot the best they have all season long. A big key to the win was the efficiency of junior transfer Pharrel Payne, who went 6-6 for 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds. He discussed where he felt the team stepped in the right direction in this game.

“I would say communication is who we are we take a lot of pride in that I think defense is what we would say makes our team go so that’s a big thing for us.”

Buzz has caught some flack over the last few seasons as a team that hasn’t really put together a full year of constant play. However, they are off to a much better start this year and they have gotten much better at closing out games and their maturity is showing when they get in tough spots.

“I think our guys through the schedule we’ve played through their maturity through their experience. I think they’re beginning to have maybe a little bit of peace and being uncomfortable.”

Below, you can watch the entire post-game conference.

Texas A&M will return home to face Houston Christian at Reed Arena on Dec. 20 at 1:00 p.m. CST. The game can be watched on ESPN+/SECN+.

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Here are the best photos from No. 17 Texas A&M’s 70-66 win over No. 11 Purdue

View some best photos from Texas A&M’s 70-66 win over Purdue

Saturday morning’s Indy Classic was meant to be a neutral site game featuring No. 17 Texas A&M against No. 11 Purdue. However, it turned out otherwise. With Purdue located about an hour from Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the game was not just physical, but also hostile.

The Aggies were unfazed and shook off a sloppy first half where they committed several turnovers but still had a lead going into halftime. Out of the locker room, they seemed to have more intensity and were able to gain a sizeable lead that Purdue could not overcome with a final score of 70-66 for another Quad 1 win for A&M.

The Aggies are on a roll, having won five in a row. They started with a ranked Ohio State team, followed by wins over Creighton, Rutgers, Texas Tech, and now Purdue. When completely healthy, Texas A&M is a perfect 9-0 and could head into SEC play at 11-2 with a ton of momentum.

Below are some of the best photos from the game.

 

Texas A&M will return home to face Houston Christian at Reed Arena on Dec. 20 at 9:00 a.m. CST. The game can be watched on ESPN+/SECN+.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on X: @whosnextsports1.

Watch: Former Aggie star gives post game speech after Texas A&M’s win over Purdue

Current Indiana Pacer and former star Texas A&M guard Quenton Jackson stopped by the locker room after Texas A&M’s 70-66 win over Purdue

Texas A&M (9-2) has won five in a row after defeating No. 11 Purdue (8-3) in what should be considered a road game instead of a neutral-court matchup during Saturday’s Indy Classic.

Defeating the Boilermakers 70-66, A&M’s prolific defense never wilted. At the same time, the Aggies saw minor improvement from beyond the arc and enhanced play from junior big man Pharrel Payne, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds in his best game with the program.

While A&M’s average offense can only improve heading into SEC play, if the defense continues to suffocate opponents and neutralize consistency from beyond the arc, the team can beat anyone on any given day.

The Aggies have won five consecutive games, and every victory has been against a major conference opponent, including Ohio State, Creighton, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Texas Tech, and now Purdue. If each team listed meets preseason expectations, we’re talking about four to five Quad 1 victories in nonconference play.

After the game, former Texas A&M star guard Quenton Jackson, currently on the Indiana Pacers’ 2024 roster, met the team in the locker room to congratulate the Aggies on the signature win. Here is Jackson’s post-game locker room speech:

Texas A&M will return home to face Houston Christian at Reed Arena on Dec. 20 at 9:00 a.m. CST. The game can be watched on ESPN+/SECN+.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.