Regulation was like rugby. Bodies were strewn across the floor, when they weren’t interlocked with each other.

It ended with Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson, who awakened from an 0-for-7 start to score 11 points in the comeback, blocking Donald Sloan under the basket with 31 seconds left. E’Twaun Moore was then stripped of the ball by Dash Harris. The Aggies inbounded with 1.1 seconds left, but Holmes’ off-balance heave from in front of his bench banged off the glass to give this tournament its fourth overtime game.

The extra period had three ties, with the relentless Aggies taking two-point leads and the unyielding Boilermakers answering each time.

Kramer tried to give his team the lead with under 2 minutes left in overtime with a shot over two Aggies in the lane. He missed that time and lost his sneaker — of course, he ran down to play defense without it. But freshman Khris Middleton put A&M back up with a jump hook from the baseline with 1:20 remaining.

Moore answered with a jumper with 1 minute to go to make it 61-all. Those were the last of his 15 points.

Then, Davis backed in on the 6-10 Johnson, went under him to the basket, but was short against the rim on his bank shot with 17 seconds left.

Purdue got the rebound and called a timeout with 10.1 seconds remaining. Painter called for a play for Moore, but Kramer never gave up the ball once he got it back off his inbounds pass from halfcourt to Keaton Grant.

2010 men's NCAA tournament Quick guide to the teams, players, more

From the top of the key, Kramer switched hands on his dribble, then drove past 6-7 Nathan Walkup and approached the 6-9 Davis. The shot soared over the leaping Davis’ finger tips, off the glass and in.

“I didn’t even really expect him to get the ball,” Davis said. “I almost got there to get a hand on it. But he made a tough shot, to his credit, and won the game.”

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