Camden Heide, Myles Colvin deliver spark as Purdue outlasts USC in Big Ten tournament

On a night when Camden Heide and Myles Colvin provided the biggest spark of the season off the bench, Purdue had to finish this game with a victory.

Right?

Heide and Colvin played key roles at both ends as the sixth-seeded Boilermakers outlasted USC 76-71 in Thursday night’s second-round action at the Big Ten tournament.

Purdue advances to Friday’s quarterfinal matchup against No. 3 seed Michigan (9 p.m., BTN).

Colvin and Heide combined for 17 points and 16 rebounds, and Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn made sure the duo backed up their production with a win and another game in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Heide had nine second-half rebounds.

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“(He’s) the difference,” Kaufman-Renn said about Heide. “Just playing hard, man. Just giving that effort that we needed because our energy was horrible at the beginning of the game. To have somebody really step it up and defend and rebound and that’s what we need. We’re going to need him to continue doing that and we’ve got to get other guys too, including me, giving better energy to start the game.”

During a back-and-forth second half, Smith’s layup broke a 67-67 tie, and Kaufman-Renn’s putback extended the margin to four with 2:07 to play. But Desmond Claude, who didn’t play in the regular-season meeting, finished the final 10:27 with four fouls but delivered 10 of his 18 points in the final 7:34.

Kaufman-Renn hit two free throws with 28.3 seconds left to give the Boilermakers a 73-71 lead. Claude missed a short floater and was in position to grab the offensive rebound, but Heide darted in and corralled the loose ball. It was the biggest rebound of the night for Heide and Purdue.

“I think he actually almost got his own rebound, and then it was at the peak of his jump, and I was able to hit it out of his hands and then grab the rebound,” Heide said. “It was really just seeing the fight of the ball and being able to make a play on it when it went through his hands.

Heide finished with a career-high 11 rebounds and nine points, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts.

“Cam was great,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “He can keep shooting 100% from 3-(point range)
and getting 11 rebounds, I think we’re going to benefit from it.”

After Kaufman-Renn hit 1 of 2 free throws, Smith forced a steal – when he was trying to foul, but the Trojans fouled the junior point guard. Smith’s two free throws gave Purdue a five-point lead. Kaufman-Renn had 30 points and seven rebounds.

Don’t overlook Colvin’s contributions. Colvin totaled eight points and five rebounds.

“It’s coming in and being ready to defend and give effort,” Kaufman-Renn said. “It really shows up, whether it be in the actual box score, but also just hustle plays and making sure rotations are there well. I think both did a really good job.”

Although Purdue won the rebounding battle, the Trojans grabbed timely ones, which led to 22 second-chance points.

Purdue’s offense was disjointed from the opening tip. There were too many unforced turnovers, and the Boilermakers were unable to clean up the rebounding on the defensive end. The 14^th-seeded Trojans were effective from the perimeter and also scored in the paint.

Despite the sluggish start, the Boilermakers were more effective offensively in the second half because they committed one turnover compared to nine in the first half.

USC led by 10 with 7:10 left in the first half before the Boilermakers found a spark.

Heide drained the first of two 3-pointers, and the defense ramped up, forcing a shot clock violation. It was all part of a 10-0 run that brought Purdue back into the game.

“Once we got down 10, we picked it up from there, and he was a big part of that,” Painter said about Heide. “He was getting 50-50 balls, he was getting tap-backs. We had a play where he got a tap-back, and he kept it alive and had a wide open shot and we end up missing it. But
we were getting extra possessions. At the end of the day, that’s what you want.”

But the Trojans weren’t rattled. They kept forcing the action and were rewarded based on their effort on the boards. Purdue tied the score at 35 before halftime on Colvin’s 3-pointer.