Sweet 16: Gonzaga has the difficult chore of once more defending Purdue’s Edey

DETROIT (AP) — Zach Edey is a 7-foot-4, 300-pound force of nature, thus most teams have never faced someone like him.

Edey is no mystery to the Gonzaga Bulldogs, which is fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—for them.

The Zags have played Edey and Purdue twice in the last sixteen months, and both times they have lost by double digits.

In the Sweet 16 on Friday, Gonzaga will attempt to defeat the big man for the third time. A trip to the Final Four is up for grabs for the champion, who will play either Tennessee or Creighton.

Positively speaking, Gonzaga coach Mark Few stated, “We’ve at least experienced it when dealing with someone as outstanding as Edey.” Therefore, we’re not attempting to explain it to our players or show them other teams that are competing against it.

In the 2022 match, Edey’s stats versus Gonzaga are 23 points and 7 rebounds. Purdue prevailed by a score of 18. Then, in a game that both coaches felt wasn’t their teams’ best work, Edey went for 25 and 14 at the beginning of this season at the Maui Invitational, and the Boilermakers won by a score of 10.

Coach Matt Painter of Purdue remarked, “It offers you a reference point, but it signifies very little.”

For the second year in a row, Edey has made the first team of the AP All-America, shattering the myth that a real post player is obsolete in today’s league. He’s averaging almost the same or better than the 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game that won him the 2023 AP Player of the Year award.

Additionally, he has improved his defender skills, being able to move to the perimeter and even stop one or two guards late in possession.

According to Braden Smith, a guard for Purdue, “he worked his butt off this summer.”

The enhancement is a component of the larger Boilermakers narrative.

They were just the second-seeded team to lose in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round last March. It contributed to the long-standing myth that this team is among NCAA basketball’s recurring underachievers. Over Painter’s 19 seasons, Purdue has had a top-four seed eight times, but the Boilermakers have only made it to the Elite Eight once.

No matter how the season turns out, Painter stated, “I think the most important thing for us and what we’ve always tried to do is be honest with ourselves in evaluation so you can hopefully make those changes.” “However, unless you correct yourself, you cannot correct your players or your squad.”

Gonzaga had to make those adjustments in the middle of the season and ended up in the Sweet 16 for the ninth consecutive year, a national record.