Camden Heide, Tre Holloman relive Minnesota state title matchup while competing in Big Ten tournament

Purdue’s Camden Heide walked off the Target Center court Friday afternoon with a victory against Michigan State’s Tre Holloman. It was a repeat of when they met for a high school state title.

The last time Heide played Holloman at the Timberwolves arena was when he helped lead Wayzata to its first state championship since 1959. On the losing end that night was Holloman’s Cretin-Derham Hall team in the 2021 Class 4A state championship.

“This was my first time back here since my junior year, when we won state,” said Heide, who was a key reserve in Purdue’s 67-62 win Friday against Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals. “It’s a great feeling to have a bunch of friends and family supporting me.”

The Spartans had to beat the Gophers 77-67 in Thursday’s second round to face the top-seeded Boilermakers, who advanced to play Wisconsin in the semifinals Saturday.

Holloman, a sophomore guard, shined in back-to-back games for Michigan State. He finished with 10 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench Friday. That was coming off a nine-point, four-assist, two-steal performance against the Gophers.

“Earlier in the season, we kind of struggled with bench points,” Holloman said. “The past few games coach [Tom Izzo] has been harping on getting something from the bench. I just came in and did my job. Shoutout to coach and my teammates for trusting me.”

Holloman remembers battling Heide’s squad at Target Center in high school. He lost to Wayzata in consecutive years at the state tournament, including in the semifinals to end his senior season in 2022.

“[Heide is] doing his thing over at Purdue now,” Holloman said. “That’s great for him.”

After redshirting as a true freshman last season, Heide established himself in a defensive role off the bench during Purdue’s run to a second straight outright Big Ten regular-season title.

It was a long journey for Heide to get back to playing the way he was when leading Wayzata to the championship. After transferring to prep school in Utah, he missed most of his high school senior year with a foot injury.

Pursuing a Big Ten tourney title this week in Minnesota with Purdue brings the experience full circle.

“It’s a good feeling, but it was tough [sitting] out for almost two years,” Heide said. “Really the last game I played in high school was the state championship after breaking my foot two times my senior year. Coach [Matt] Painter does a good job redshirting guys. I still felt like I was a part of the team. It was a really good thing to develop myself.”

Former Eastview standout Steven Crowl had arguably his worst game of the year in Wisconsin’s regular-season-ending loss against Purdue last week, but he turned things around at the right time.

Entering a rematch against Big Ten player of the year Zach Edey on Saturday, Crowl is coming off one of his best games of the season. He had 19 points in a 70-61 win Friday vs. Northwestern while tying a season high with eight made field goals.

In the 78-70 loss in West Lafayette, Ind., last Sunday, Crowl went scoreless with only two field-goal attempts while fouling out in 21 minutes. He followed that up with 17 points vs. Maryland on Thursday.

The Badgers are 14-3 this season when Crowl scores 12 points or more.

“Coach [Greg Gard] has done a great job about being on me about being aggressive,” Crowl said. “And I’ve got to give credit to the guards. They do a great job of finding me, whether it’s on the throwbacks or on the ball screens or whether I’m spotting up.”