Purdue's bench finds its stride in NCAA tournament

INDIANAPOLIS – Limited minutes. Limited opportunities. The need to produce in a short period of time.

Welcome to the world of Purdue’s bench players.

During the opening round of the NCAA tournament in Providence, Myles Colvin and Camden Heide led the charge of reserves who helped No. 4 seed Purdue advance to Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup against top-seeded Houston (10:09 p.m., TBS) at Lucas Oil Stadium.

It’s been an up-and-down season in terms of bench production. Inconsistent shooting from 3-point range. Defensive breakdowns. Trying to give a boost in the rebounding department.

The ups and downs were smoothed out in wins over High Point and McNeese State, but the same level of play must continue to reach the Elite Eight.

Matt Painter settled on his rotation midway through the year, giving nearly every player a clear runway to maximize their playing time.

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“It’s a matter of being ready and being ready for the open shots,” said Colvin, who is 7 of 18 from 3-point range the last four games. “Me, Gicarri (Harris) and Cam have done a really good job from a bench standpoint. It’s had a really big impact for us.”

Here was the impact in the first and second rounds: A combined 38 points and 35 rebounds in the two games. Purdue had better two-game stretches from the bench during the regular season, but the same group didn’t score in a two-point loss at Michigan in February.

The production last weekend supported the team’s Big 3 — Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer — and allowed the Boilermakers to defeat the two opponents.

Whether it was Heide’s 30 minutes against High Point or Will Berg’s two minutes of use in offense/defense situations, the contributions were significant.

“Like we keep preaching – everybody is always ready,” Berg said. “Even though there were a couple of months where I didn’t play, you still sit there on the bench, you warm up, you do your routine, and you’re always ready if something happens and the situation changes.”

Adding to the production was a pair of highlight plays from Colvin and Heide.  

They delivered two spectacular putback dunks against High Point, injecting energy into the team and the atmosphere inside the Amica Mutal Pavillion. Purdue might need the same type of explosive plays Friday.

“Going up to get that dunk was really exciting,” Colvin said.

For Colvin and Heide, last year’s run to the national championship game is an experience they’ve used in this tournament. They’ve tried to bring the newcomers along and lead them through the postseason.

The roles are different than a year ago as the Boilermakers marched to Phoenix, but the importance of the reserves can’t be underestimated at this stage of the tournament. And the significance of rebounding in Friday’s game isn’t lost on Heide, who has pulled down 10 or more rebounds in two of the last four games.

“I’d say it’s extremely important,” said Heide, who is 12 of 19 from 3-point range in the last 10 games. “They have a lot of athletic wings. They get a lot of tap outs and something we’ve been preaching is making sure that we not only keep them off the glass, but we get those tap outs.

“We try to win those loose ball battles. Personally, I’m a little undersized and I try to use my athleticism to match up equally with another smaller (power forward) to get the ball. It’s definitely a main focus for us.”