Purdue needed that.

The fans needed it. The resume needed it. The record needed it, but most importantly, Purdue's players needed it.

Purdue didn't need a blow out win. Purdue didn't need to take on a cupcake and win easily. Purdue definitely didn't need another loss.

What it needed, was to get back into the hard stuff, a grinder, against a team with the best defense in the Big Ten, and remind Purdue what Purdue was capable of.

But more importantly, it needed to remember that it liked the grind.

"You're supposed to get into tight games and enjoy it," Matt Painter said after the game. "Embrace it."

It helps when you're making shots, and that's what Purdue did.

Purdue made 11 of 22 three-pointers, and most importantly, kept care of the ball. Purdue's recipe for success isn't easy, but it is simple.

Purdue was bolstered by a Mackey Arena crowd that was ready to do its part to end Purdue's four-game losing streak. It seemed to be working early, and Purdue once again mounted a double-digit lead in the first half. The same thing it did against Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. All of those games flipped in the second half.

"We haven't had bad first halves," Painter said. "We've had bad second halves."

But Purdue had something throughout the game it hasn't always had this season - bench production.

It was Myles Colvin in the first half. Colvin came in just a few minutes into the half and helped spark Purdue's offense by knocking down the first three of the game, a corner rise and splash off a Braden Smith feed.

Then, it was Colvin who had the honor of receiving Smith's record breaking pass. Colvin caught that pass at the right wing, pumped, then drove into a pull-up jumper.

By the time the ball flushed through the net, Smith was Purdue's all-time assist leader in just his third year at Purdue.

But the second half belonged to another bench wing.

Camden Heide, after no points and no rebounds in the first half, played the final 12 minutes for Purdue. Heide finished the game because he had 9 rebounds in those final 12 minutes. Purdue had a 20-7 rebound disadvantage after the first half. Offensive rebounding kept UCLA in the game in the first half, but Purdue flipped the script in the second half.

Heide called his game soft in the first half, and credited some of the accountability talk for turning it around in the second half.

That overcoming is a perfect metaphor for what Purdue found in the second half. If someone played for Purdue against UCLA, that person made winning plays. CJ Cox's stat line won't speak to it, but he had multiple plays where his effort, his getting a hand on the ball, his defense at the top of the key, it all added to Purdue grabbing extra possesssions and holding on long enough for a pair of three-pointers to close out Purdue's win.

The first of those threes was Heide's. Heide a few weeks ago, couldn't make a shot. Now he's coming off burying the Bruins, extending a back and forth game to three possessions. UCLA would never get back in it.

"This was not easy," Painter said emphatically after the game. "This was a great win. Guys had to make plays. Guys had to make tough plays, make hug shots, because that's a really good team."

Painter was talking about UCLA, but after Purdue's performance against the Bruins, it could be said about Purdue, again, too.

That's a good team, and they're having fun again.