WEST LAFAYETTE − Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer had already entered the Purdue basketball rotation.
The question coach Matt Painter and his team had to answer at one point was how exactly to use the Sophomore Myles Colvin and freshmen CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris to round out their junior backcourt.
This trio, all starters at one point or another this season, has given the Boilermakers enormous flexibility.
And the ability to wear down opposing ball handlers with a constantly rotating triumvirate of new defenders.
“Those guys coming in fresh, really a lot for each other and bringing energy, being able to defend gives us that boost,” Painter said.
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Lately, Cox has earned the starts, making his eighth straight game Friday night against Michigan. Harris started the first three games of the season and Colvin started the next eight after that.
All are capable and trustworthy from the start to the final buzzer.
Who starts sometimes becomes a moot point given the balance of minutes this season. Who plays the most on a given night tends to be situational and dependent on the skills of the moment.
For example, Colvin only played eight minutes against Ohio State while Harris played 19 in a game where he made a few key shots and Cox played a season-high 24 with Braden Smith struggling and Purdue needing a reliable ball handler.
But against Oregon the previous game, Colvin saw the most minutes of the three.
The split of minutes between the three has been nearly even through 20 games: Colvin 18.6 per game on average, Cox 16.1, Harris 16.0.
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“I think it’s important to have guys like us who can all guard one through three, and I think I can guard one through four with my size,” Colvin said. “It makes a difference because we can stop, get out and run.”
While Ohio State’s savvy 3-point shooting made Purdue’s defensive performance worse than it likely was on Tuesday, the combination of Cox, Harris and Colvin helped hold down the Buckeyes’ leading scorer, Bruce Thornton. , at 11 points on 3 of 7 shots, 6.1 points below his season average. , although he had five assists, a figure above his 4.3 per game.
For Oregon, Jackson Shelstad needed 12 shots to score 15 points. Washington’s tandem of Zoom Diallo and Tyree Ihenacho combined for eight points on 3-of-10 shooting and Diallo had four turnovers.
“The fact that I can press full court on their point guard gives Braden a little break,” Cox said. “When Gicarri and Myles come in, they do the same thing. Keeping guys fresh on them can tire them out more by bringing the ball up. I feel like that’s a big advantage for us.”
Michigan’s offensive advantage this season lies in big men Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin.
Make no mistake, though, Auburn transfer point guard Tre Donaldson is as dangerous as anyone on the Wolverines’ roster and will be the final challenge to the Cox-Colvin-Harris trio.
“We just play hard according to our (defensive) rules,” Harris said. “We all do a good job. If we see something wrong on the field, we tell each other and try to fix each other’s mistakes if they happen.
“The main thing is to play hard. That’s what we do all the time.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article was originally published in the Lafayette Journal & Courier: Myles Colvin, CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris keep Purdue’s defense fresh
