UConn's Dan Hurley sheds light on Zach Edey plan to take down Purdue

09/04/2024 16:23

Purdue basketball star Zach Edey came out gangbusters in Monday’s national title clash against UConn, keeping the Boilermakers in the game for one half with his dominance against fellow goliath Donovan Clingan. But Edey got no help as the Huskies choked the life out of yet another opponent in the second half en route to a second consecutive national title. While the Purdue star finished with 37 points and 10 rebounds to cap off an incredible NCAA Tournament run, his teammates managed just 23 points in a 75-60 defeat.

That was all part of Dan Hurley’s plan, according to Brian Rauf of Heat Check CBB.

“We didn’t want to give up 3s. We didn’t care if Edey took 25, 28 shots to get 35 points. The game plan was no Smith, no Loyer, no Gillis, no Jones. Keep that collective to under 20 points as a group and they had no chance to win no matter what Edey did.”

Edey wound up taking 25 shots, making 15 of them and also going 7-of-10 from the foul line. Those 25 attempts were almost half of Purdue’s total field goal attempts (54), and he took 10 of their 15 free throws.

Perhaps the most shocking stat of the night? The Boilermakers attempted just seven 3-pointers and made one. This was a team that shot over 40% from 3-point land on the season and made over eight per game, making them one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country.

“Purdue’s seven 3-point attempts was the fewest by a team in the title game since UConn in 1999 and the fewest by any team in this year’s tournament. Its one made 3-point shot tied for the fewest in a national title game,” according to CBS Sports.

Hurley let Clingan and backup Samson Johnson go up against Edey alone, refusing to leave shooters. Edey got his, Clingan racked up four fouls and Johnson fouled out in just five minutes, but Purdue’s other guys were non-factors.

Zach Edey gets no help from Purdue teammates

Braden Smith was the only other Boilermaker to score in double figures, and it took him 12 shots to get his 12 points. A 43.1% 3-point shooter who took over three a game this season, Smith went 1-of-2 from deep against UConn.

Besides Edey and Smith, Purdue managed just 11 other points, with two coming from the bench (albeit in truly incredible fashion). Fletcher Loyer, the Boilermakers’ fourth-leading scorer and an elite 3-point shooter, put up a goose egg by missing all five shot attempts and only taking one triple. Third-leading scorer Lance Jones took nearly six treys per game this season and missed his lone attempt in this game.

While a disappointing effort for Purdue, Hurley’s game plan was masterful and UConn executed it to perfection. While Clingan and Johnson took on Edey inside, fellow Huskies Tristen Newton, Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer and Alex Karaban hounded the perimeter to make life difficult on the Purdue supporting cast. And even though Edey went off, he was clearly worn down at points in the second half because of the massive load.

The result was yet another blowout win as part of one of the most dominant runs in college basketball history.

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