Purdue has reached the Final Four for the first time since 1980 and the Boilermakers will attempt to advance to the championship game if they can beat upset-minded North Carolina State. The Big Ten champions are 9-point favorites and have a talented big man in 7-4 center Zach Edey who is capable of dominating in the middle and securing a a major advantage with his scoring and rebounding.
The Boilermakers are the No. 1 seed in the East Region of the tournament, while the Wolfpack has advanced to the Final Four as the No. 11 seed in the South Region.
Edey is averaging 30.0 points and 16.3 rebounds in Purdue's four NCAA Tournament games to this point. He will be challenged by North Carolina State's DJ Burns Jr., one of the breakout stars of this year's tournament. The 6-9 Burns has at least some of the size needed to challenge Edey and make life difficult for him.
Tom Izzo knows Edey quite well
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo knows Edey extremely well because his Spartans played the Boilermakers twice this season. Izzo has seen the big Purdue center score 61 points in a pair of victories over the Spartans and he knows Edey's strengths and weaknesses.
He says that Edey will be put to a major test if the Boilermakers beat North Carolina State and get to the championship game against Connecticut.
Dan Hurley's defending champion Huskies have a powerful big man of their own in Donovan Clingan, and slowing down his production will be a challenge for Edey.
Izzo previewed that potential matchup as a guest on Dan Patrick's show prior to the start of the Final Four.
Tom Izzo: If it’s Connecticut, Purdue in the finals, it could be a real interesting game with those two bigs.
Dan Patrick: Okay but you don’t attack the big man ( Clingan) and try to get him in foul trouble?
Tom Izzo: You better have a hell of a Center to do that. You know you better have a guy that's not only big enough, strong enough, good enough, can score it well enough.
Dan Patrick: Well Edey can do that.
Tom Izzo: He can, but what he doesn't do sometimes is, you know, not as mobile as some, although he's more mobile than you think.
It seems Izzo is questioning Edey's consistency of effort. He was saying that the Purdue center has the quickness to combat Clingan, but he doesn't always display that characteristic. It's obvious that any team that competes against UConn must be at its best for 40 minutes if it is going to have a chance.
That includes Edey, who is going to have to compete as hard on the defensive side of the court as he does with the ball in his hands if Purdue is going to have a chance.
Of course, the Boilermakers have to get by the Wolfpack before Zach Edey is going to test his championship mettle.
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