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The college basketball season ends on Monday night, but not before it gives the people the National Championship game they deserve: UConn versus Purdue. The Huskies and the Boilermakers have been two of the best teams in the country this season, with both staying in the top 10 of the AP Poll for the entirety of the year.
The focus will be on the titanic matchup between seven-footers Donovan Clingan and Zach Edey. The two centers are among college basketball's elite players and neither has gone up against a team or player yet that can match their size down low. Neither Clingan nor Edey has a distinct advantage down low in this contest, so it will likely be up to the backcourts to find an edge in this even game.
UConn has a pair of All-Big East First Team guards in Cam Spencer and Tristan Newton. Spencer has been consistently solid in the NCAA Tournament, scoring in double figures in every game while hitting at least one three-pointer. Newton has been more up and down. The sophomore point guard had 20 points and 10 assists in the Second Round against Northwestern but managed just five points and five assists in the Sweet Sixteen against Illinois in his lone down performance.
Both are good enough to carry the Huskies on any given night. But the difference-maker for UConn in the National Championship Game is 6-6 freshman wing Stephon Castle and the problems he can cause for Purdue with his offensive game.
Mismatch on the wing for Stephon Castle
Despite being a projected NBA First Round pick this year and a likely lottery selection, UConn's Stephon Castle has often taken a back seat on this year's UConn team. The freshman is fourth on the team with 11.0 PPG and entered the NCAA Tournament having posted twice as many games with five or fewer points (six) than he did with 20 points (three). Castle's inconsistency has carried over into the NCAA. Tournament
Castle came into the Alabama game in the Final Four game having hit just 1-8 three-pointers in the tourney and coming off a season-worst two points against Illinois. Alabama dared Castle to beat them and he did. While he was still only 2-6 from three, Castle finished with a team-high 21 points, hitting all four of his shots at the rim and going 5-6 at the free throw line. UConn will need Castle's scoring against a Purdue team that is 12th in the nation in defensive efficiency per KenPom.
Despite having an elite defense, the Boilermakers have struggled against opposing wings. Illinois' Marcus Domask averaged 23 points per game in two contests against the Boilermakers this year and Wisconsin's AJ Storr put up 17 PPG — not to mention Dalton Knecht's 37 points in the Elite Eight.
The Huskies already have a height advantage in the backcourt, with Cam Spencer and Tristan Newton each having four inches over Braden Smith and Lance Jones, respectively. Can the 6-4 Fletcher Loyer slow down the 6-6 Stephon Castle while giving up two inches and 35 pounds? Matt Painter could give Mason Gillis and Camden Heide more minutes, sacrificing offense for defense.
Painter will play Gillis and Loyer together or Loyer and the bigger Trey Kaufman-Renn (6-9), but rarely do Kaufman-Renn and Gillis see the floor together. A Kaufmann-Renn and Gillis lineup would be the most effective defensive setup against Castle, but will Matt Painter and Purdue want to sacrifice that much to limit UConn's fourth-biggest scoring threat?
The Purdue defense will already have its hands full with Donovan Clingan, Tristan Newton, and Cam Spencer. If Stephon Castle can get going, the Boilermakers will find themselves out of luck in the National Championship Game.
