Devon Collier didn’t start for the Beavers, but he certainly made his presence felt.
Collier, a junior forward, led all scorers with 27 points in Oregon State’s 66-58 win over Purdue in the consolation game in the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
“It means a lot, especially coming from a bad loss yesterday,” Collier said. “I was on from the beginning and coach just kept going to me and my teammates stepped up.”
The 27-point outburst was Collier’s second-straight strong performance coming off the bench. Collier scored a game-high 21 points in Oregon State’s 65-62 loss to Alabama on Thursday night.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team because to come back from a tough loss like yesterday and to fight it out in a very physical game,” Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson said. “These guys have done a really good job.”
For Collier, a Bronx native, it was a homecoming and he had a crowd of supporters among those cheering for the Beavers.
“It’s very hard to come home and have a good game,” Robinson said. “Most guys don’t play well when they have a homecoming like this. Devon has proven me wrong.”
Purdue mounted a comeback in the second half, powered by freshman center A.J. Hammons who scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, including converting a three-point play to bring the Boilermakers to within two with 3:22 left to play.
Hammons would tie the game at 56 with 2:17 left to play before Collier and Oregon State shut the door, ending the game on a 10-2 run.
Oregon State lost a big piece of its front line when starting center Angus Brandt left the game with a right leg injury and immediately went to the Beavers’ locker room.
“It doesn’t look good based on how his reaction was,” Robinson said. “[Brandt] has a high pain tolerance but we’re going to have to wait until all the examinations are done.”
Trailing 7-6 with just over 13 minutes left to play in the first half Collier exploded off the Oregon State bench, scoring 17 of his 27 points in the first half, helping to give the Beavers to an 11-point halftime lead.
Collier’s jumper with 13:24 remaining gave the Beavers a one-point lead that they would not surrender for the rest of the game. Collier scored all 11 points for Oregon State during its 11-3, 1:18 run in the first half.
Attempting to go toe-to-toe with Collier was Purdue’s Anthony Johnson, who was the only Boilermakers player to notch double figures in the first half.
The Beavers’ front line was too much for the undersized Boilermakers to handle, with Oregon State outrebounding Purdue 47 to 36, including a double-digit effort from Collier.
“I’d be lying to you if I said we didn’t make a big deal out of [rebounding],” Robinson said. “We knew they were going to crash the boards. This year rebounding is a point of emphasis for us and we have a frontcourt that takes rebounding very seriously, very personally.”
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com