Last year's experience helps Purdue guard Brandon Newman deal with 'ups and downs'

WEST LAFAYETTE – Brandon Newman had just logged four minutes of playing time against Iowa during the Feb. 9 victory at Mackey Arena.

Last season – and probably the year before that – playing only four minutes would’ve bothered the junior guard. Now, seeing action for four minutes isn’t ideal for Newman, but you have to look at Purdue’s next game to see how far the Valparaiso graduate has matured.

When the then-top-ranked Boilermakers faced Northwestern three days later, Newman pieced together a solid first half on the defensive end. There was a blocked shot. A steal. He forced a turnover where Newman probably should’ve been credited with a steal. He was active. He was engaged.

He was a menace in a game Purdue needed someone to be a nuisance.

After the game, one where the Boilermakers lost, Newman acknowledged the lack of minutes against the Hawkeyes but quickly shrugged it off and looked ahead instead of dwelling on the past.

Dealing with last year’s experience, where Newman went through stretches of not playing, prepared him for about anything this season.

“Having the experience that I did last season has helped me tremendously from a mental standpoint of the ups and downs of a college basketball season,” Newman said. “It’s helped me grow a lot and mature a lot to be able to be here a year or so later and to be able to stay locked in, stay mentally focused and stay engaged and come back and put together a good stretch of a couple of games.”

Fifth-ranked Purdue needs a locked-in Newman as a defender coming off the bench as the pursuit of a Big Ten regular-season championship continues Saturday against No. 17 Indiana (7:30 p.m., FOX) at Mackey Arena.

Newman has returned to playing double-digit minutes in the last three games, including 19 in Sunday’s win over Ohio State. He added eight points – his most since scoring the same number during the Jan. 19 victory at Minnesota – and fuels his desire to become a steady two-way player for the Boilermakers.

“Being a two-way player was one of my goals coming into this season and I’ve been taking pride on that side of the ball and being locked in on my matchups and make sure I know what’s going on from a scouting standpoint,” Newman said. “It’s helped me in a lot of games to get me going because I haven’t been shooting it that great this year. That’s been hard with the minutes that I’ve been getting of being able to get into a rhythm.”

His shot hasn’t been falling recently, battling through an 8 of 34 stretch during the last nine games, but Newman said: “I can still play defense, I can still rebound, I can still talk to my teammates, and I can do things like that.”

And it’s the defense where Newman will earn more playing time.

He splits time with Ethan Morton defending the opposing team’s top perimeter player, and his ability to rebound on the defensive end has been an asset to the Boilermakers.

“Brandon has been good defensively,” Morton said. “Sometimes it’s hard to get in the flow of the game coming off the bench. I can talk about that more than most. It’s a hard job.

“I give him credit for how he’s able to handle it and how he’s able to have success recently. If you play hard and you’re solid, a lot of times good things are going to happen. Sometimes you’re going to get bad calls, and sometimes you give a great effort but the offense makes a better play, and you have to tip your hat. He’s been great.”

Newman continues to stay “locked in” defensively by watching film, dissecting extra clips on his upcoming opponents and their tendencies, and digesting the scouting report.

But if Newman hadn’t dealt with last year’s rough period of not playing, he probably wouldn’t have been able to handle seeing just four minutes against Iowa.

“I think it pushed me forward in different areas,” Newman said. “Just from a mental standpoint of being able to continue to do my job and do what the coaches ask of me and not just dwell on playing four minutes in a game or not checking in like last year.

“Being able to move forward and be onto the next game, be into the next opponent, those are some of the areas that have helped me this season.”