McNeese’s Will Wade calls his team ‘selfish’ in the best possible way. Purdue up next for Cowboys

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — If there’s anything McNeese coach Will Wade learned about his team during its NCAA Tournament first-round upset of Clemson, it’s that it’s OK to be a little selfish.

“Everybody’s selfish. Everybody wants something out of something,” Wade said as his 12th-seeded team prepared for Saturday’s second-round Midwest Region matchup with fourth-seeded Purdue. “The key to any team is you’ve got to get their selfish desires to fit into your team needs.”

That approach was plenty effective for the Cowboys as they picked up their first March Madness victory in four trips.

Senior forward Christian Shumate, who saw his shot attempts decrease this season with several new shooters on the roster, embraced his role as a rebounder. Junior Quadir Copeland has become a solid distributor, to the point where Wade says he even “overpasses” at times.

“We’re all open about it. Everybody knows what we’re doing,” Wade said. “We’ve talked about it. You try to get all that and blend it together the best you can.”

The Cowboys will need all their elements to work together again on Saturday, now that they’ve become a Sweet 16 contender. And they’ll be dealing with a veteran Boilermakers team that has experienced both triumph and heartbreak in March Madness.

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“We have had really good wins in the NCAA Tournament. We have had some really tough losses, so we have been through a lot,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “A lot of times, the tough losses you have won’t be the group that you have. It’ll be five, six years before and they don’t feel that sting and understand that. Well, this group has. ... They learned hard lessons. It doesn’t mean it can’t happen again. It can rear its ugly head but it’s still the game. They understand that.”

The Boilermakers are led by veterans Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer, who started alongside star big man Zach Edey — now with the Memphis Grizzlies — in last year’s national title game loss to UConn. But the returning trio also was part of the top-seeded Purdue team two years ago that lost to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round.

FDU won by crowding Edey in the paint and daring Purdue’s role players to make outside shots. This time, the Boilermakers will deal with a crafty defensive foe that confounded Clemson by switching to a zone.

“I don’t think it’s that much of a challenge for us,” guard Myles Colvin said. “We have been through a lot of situations like this already in the past couple years. ... So I think it’s huge for us to be in those situations before the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament to prepare us for those turnarounds playing elite teams and seeing different offenses and defenses. I think that’s really huge for us.”

Quick turnarounds are nothing new for the Cowboys, who play in the Southland Conference, which schedules games on Saturdays and again on Mondays.

Wade said his players will do their best to bring elements the Boilermakers haven’t seen on video.

“We’re going to try. If you throw Matt Painter and Purdue fastballs the entire game they’re going to hit some grand slams. They’re too good,” Wade said. “You’ve got to throw some changeups, some curves. We’ve got a few things. We’ve watched a bunch of film, it’s a lot of stuff they’ve seen this year. We’ve just got to have some greatest hits that’s maybe’s worked against them.”

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