Toyra stays ready for Boilermakers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Stephen Toyra is making the most of his opportunity at Purdue. The freshman guard maintains that working hard each and every day is most important to his success with the gold and black.

Coming into play Tuesday night, Toyra had played just 10 minutes of action in Purdue's first 22 games. However, with almost four minutes gone by at Penn State, Toyra's number was called.

"I looked at him and he was serious," said Toyra. "I took my warm-up off, got right in there and didn't have time to think about anything other than, 'Who's Terone guarding and what are we running?"

The Faith Christian alum had no time to be nervous because playing in a close game was the last thing he thought would happen at this point of his collegiate career.

“Definitely didn't have time to be nervous, I mean it's not like coach came down and said your going in at the 16 minute mark,” said Toyra. “He came down and I went right in so you just have to do what's best for the team. ”

When senior Dru Anthrop suffered a hand injury at Northwestern, it was clear there were minutes up for grabs and number 11 is making the most of the opportunity.

“He has been getting a lot better, he comes into practice every day and he works his butt off,” said Ronnie Johnson. “He makes all of us better every day and he is that type of guy that you want on your team who is going to work hard and do what the coach says. ”

“Excited to do whatever I can to help Purdue win, whether that's on the practice court, on the game court, or sitting on the bench encouraging teammates,” said Toyra. “Whatever I can do to help, I have to always be ready, you’re not going to get any better coaches or facilities to prepare you for these situations. ”