Step into the spotlight Will Berg

It's really hard not to like Will Berg.

Berg doesn't get the spotlight often, but he had a moment out there today against High Point. He credits his teammates:

"Honestly it's my teammates as well. They help me feel more happy out there and less shaky legs," Berg said after the game.

Berg is an interesting collection of aesthetics. He's a monster, at least in stature, standing at 7-2, with a wide chest, and long arms.

As Fletcher Loyer says in the locker room after the game, he's not fun to run up against when he's setting a screen.

But there's something gentle about Berg's expression, the bright red hair, and pale complexion make him look young, but his arm is a contrast of colors, tattoos covering his shoulders all the way down to his left thigh. He's one part rugged giant, one part gentle kid, a rebel with a cherub's smile.

He can disappear, a lot, because, frankly, he's not played enough to find a spotlight. Not until today that is, a Thursday afternoon in Providence, Rhode Island when Purdue is playing its first round NCAA Tournament game against High Point.

Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue's star, and the next new reason why Berg doesn't really get to play in a long line of really tall reasons, is in foul trouble again for Coach Matt Painter.

Kaufman-Renn picks up a foul early, and then a second foul even earlier, just a little over halfway in the first half.

Matt Painter trusts Kaufman-Renn, he jokes after the game to media, but that's different than trusting Kaufman-Renn not to foul.

In comes Will Berg, who finally got a chance, and decided to shine.

Berg has almost three times as many did not plays as he does games in double-digit minutes this season. In fact, this is just the fourth time this season and the first game since Purdue took on Texas A&M for the Indy Classic all the way in December of last year.

Need brought Berg into the game, but production, size, and a whole lot of heart kept Painter bringing Berg back in.

And yeah, Painter really didn't want Kaufman-Renn picking up another foul in the first half.

But Purdue didn't just survive minutes with Kaufman-Renn on the bench, it got better. Purdue had a +3 plus/minus while Berg was on the floor, not a large margin, but a margin of improvement over High Point. One that Purdue hasn't always been able to rely on when one of its two stars goes to the bench.

It's been tough, Berg admitted after the game, to sit and not have a consistent role. He doesn't know when the minutes are coming, how many of them will be there when they do, and that makes the meager minutes he does get more difficult.

The difference today? Berg credits his teammates.

"Especially, we had a great energy in the first half," Berg said about being able to come out and produce. "That makes it easier, too, when you come from the bench."

Berg was part of that energy, contesting shots early and attacking the glass. Purdue's rebounding edge, especially in the first half, was how Purdue survived long enough against a game High Point team until it could put them away late.

But Berg was more than platitudes on the court. His rugged screens late in the first half helped Smith create space, and the final play of the first half gave Purdue a jolt going into the locker room.

Smith took a Berg screen and got clean into the paint, but instead of pulling up early for a mid-range jumper, Smith drove further in and to the right of the paint. Juslin Bodo Bodo, High Point's leading shot blocker, was switched on Smith, and that left Berg covered by a guard who gave up almost a foot to Berg. Smith clocked this, engaged Bodo Bodo, and threw a pass/shot over his head and high into the air.

It ended up at the other side of the rim where Berg was able to collect it and tap it in. It was his second basket of the first half.

Berg's line is a modest one, 4 points and 2 rebounds in 10:08 minutes, but much like Berg, those numbers were big for Purdue on Thursday.

2d 5:40 PM ET ago

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Step into the spotlight Will Berg

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