Myles Colvin, Cam Heide Make Most of Starting Opportunity as Purdue Crushes Marshall
Matt Painter may have found his starting five.
Painter decided to mix things up with the starting rotation for Saturday's game against Marshall. The Boilermakers went the "small ball" route, calling on sophomores Myles Colvin and Cam Heide to add a spark. Boy, did they deliver.
It started early, too. Braden Smith found Colvin for a beautiful alley-oop in the first minute of the game, giving Purdue an early 4-2 advantage. By the time of the first media timeout, Colvin had scored seven points.
Not bad for a guy who had gone scoreless in the previous two games.
But Heide didn't want to be outdone by Colvin. He also came up big in the first half, scoring 11 points in the first seven minutes of the contest. At the 13:45 mark in the first half, Purdue owned a 20-10 lead on Marshall and Colvin and Heide combined for 18 of the Boilermakers' points.
"You're still trying to find what a good mix is for certain guys and you're trying to find production, more than anything," Painter said about potentially changing up the starting rotation on Friday.
At the end of the game, both Colvin and Heide finished with 13 points, combining to shoot seven-of-nine from the floor and made seven-of-eight free throw attempts. Heide had three rebounds and Colvin added two boards and an assist.
Purdue took care of Marshall without much struggle, posting an 80-45 victory on Saturtday to improve to 5-1 on the season. Trey Kaufman-Renn ended the game as the Boilers' leading scorer, ending the game with 18 points. Braden Smith didn't score a single point, but finished the contest with nine assists and three rebounds.
It wasn't a perfect outing from Purdue. The Boilermakers struggled on the glass on Saturday, especially in the first half. Even though they eventually won the rebounding battle, Marshall dominated the glass through the first 20 minutes, owning a 17-11 advantage at the break.
The Boilermakers also had some lapses on the defensive end at times, although the final score might not suggest that. It reminded me of what Painter said before the season regarding his "small ball" lineup: "I like it offensively, I don't know how much I like it defensively."
Regardless of what Purdue's starting lineup looks like moving forward, Painter got what he wanted from Colvin and Heide: production.
The two sophomores made the most of their opportunity on Saturday. We'll see if it results in a permanent spot in the starting lineup moving forward.
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LANCE JONES RETURNS TO PURDUE: Fan favorite Lance Jones returned to Mackey Arena on Saturday for Purdue's game against Marshall. He led fans in the famous "Sandstorm" halftime dance, too. CLICK HERE
BRADEN SMITH 500 CAREER ASSISTS: Braden Smith joined elite company on Saturday, becoming just the third player in Purdue's history to reach the 500 career assist mark. CLICK HERE
MYLES COLVIN ALLEY-OOP: Purdue opened Saturday's game against Marshall in exciting fashion, as Braden Smith connected with Myles Colvin on a beautiful alley-oop. CLICK HERE
