GLENDALE, Ariz. — The sounds around this Final Four, they tell the story. This is an event for the ears, not the eyes, because the sounds are so unique around here.
Earlier in the evening, as Purdue was introduced, the sonic cocktail of cheers and jeers signaled that the nation’s best male college player — whose game divides the nation — was coming to the floor. Zach Edey and his top-seeded teammates didn’t necessarily “wow” during their tussle with upstart North Carolina State. Yet when their 63-50 win became a reality, the wall of sound from Purdue fans that engulfed State Farm Stadium was stunning. Those sound waves, firecrackers of whistles and applause exploding all over this football stadium, could have traveled back to West Lafayette, Ind. They have waited four decades to scream this loud and only have until Monday night to really let loose.
The No. 1 seeds and their distinctive sounds will meet in the championship game.
U-Conn. and its rapacious fans are not satisfied with having their men’s and women’s teams in the Final Four. Nor are they content with last year’s hardware. No, they want to shout while becoming the first team on the men’s side to win back-to-back titles in 17 years.
Purdue’s fans make gagging noises at U-Conn. and its 12-month championship hiatus. Try going 44 years between Final Four appearances — and never winning a title.
“It’s everything. It’s everything we’ve worked for, everything we thought about. A lot of late nights, can’t even sleep because you’re thinking about it,” Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer said of appearing in this year’s final, when everyone knows what happened a year ago.
Last year, Purdue had a No. 1 seed but couldn’t make it out of the first round. Imagine the painful wails coming from the locker room that night after the Boilermakers lost to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. Someone in that room punched a hole in the whiteboard, and for college basketball fans, Purdue became a punching bag — the engine that never could.
“We put ourselves in a position to win one,” Purdue Coach Matt Painter said Saturday night. “Got to give our guys credit. They’ve been able to battle back. They’ve also been able to handle a lot of adversity.”
Now they’re in Monday’s title bout. And if you’re a fan of very tall men demonstrating drop steps, hook shots and the clinical method of backing down a defender, then you’re in luck because the two largest people in the stadium — the 7-foot-4 Edey and the 7-2 Donovan Clingan — will go head-to-head.
Being tall hasn’t always been rosy for these two. Edey had to stop trick-or-treating around fourth grade because grown-ups were mistaking him for an adult. Clingan, an elite defender, can’t just defend the rim without sacrificing his dignity — when Alabama’s Grant Nelson threw one down against him Saturday night, the game stopped while the Alabama bench and the Crimson Tide’s loudest supporters lost their minds. But in this era of positionless basketball, it will be Edey and Clingan making big men relevant again on college basketball’s biggest night.
“I’m real excited. You play at this level to play big-time matchups, big-time games,” said Clingan, who finished with 18 points and four blocks against Alabama. “I have a lot of respect for Zach Edey. He’s a great player.”
As for Edey, he explained what making it to Monday night meant to him: “The reason I came back is playing games like this. The reason I’m playing college basketball for four years — to finally get this game, big-time. We obviously got to keep going and keep playing. But, yeah … these are the games you work and practice every day for.”
Edey returned to Purdue for this game, sure, but also to dominate for another year. Over the weekend, he earned his second consecutive Associated Press player of the year award and celebrated by posting a 20-point, 12-rebound, two-block line against N.C. State. It’s not as if the Wolfpack didn’t try to stop him. At one point in the first half, N.C. State’s DJ Burns Jr. used his girth to keep Edey out of the paint. Officials prevent defenders from placing two forearms on the back of an offensive player, but there’s nothing in the rule book about a 275-pound man using his belly to bump his opponent out of position.
The ploy worked: Burns forced Edey into a mistake. The only blemish on Edey’s night: his five turnovers. As a team, Purdue gave away 16 possessions, but the Wolfpack, struggling to shoot and get into an offensive flow, didn’t capitalize on the miscues nearly enough. After nine straight wins that turned around a season, possibly saved Kevin Keatts’s job and captivated a men’s game that has been devoid of household names and lovable characters, N.C. State’s run finally came to an end.
“We have a story. When you’re in any sports, you want to have a story,” Keatts said. “Look at our story. The way this story was written was unbelievable because, to win any championships, you have to have highs and lows. We started the season with great highs. In the middle there were some lows but equally then some highs. At the end of the regular season, there were lows. Look what this team was able to accomplish. . . . I just don’t know how you can win nine elimination games.”
Only one game remains, and it will make history for the winner. On one side, they would be cheering because Connecticut completed one of the rarest feats in men’s college basketball. On the other, they would be screaming in delight after witnessing Purdue exorcise its demons. Either way, the sounds will reveal all that needs to be told.
