Purdue’s one-trick pony Edey not enough to withstand UConn stampede in NCAA title rout | Jones

Purdue had not played in the national championship game since 1969. And for a while there, I thought we were in 1969.

The Boilermakers kept feeding their massive center Zach Edey as if it was the old land of the giants, the age of Lew Alcindor and Artis Gilmore and Bob Lanier and Wes Unseld. Edey would gobble up the entry pass and lumber into position to deposit his mechanical but effective hook shot.

It worked well. He rang the bell 15 times from the field and 7 times from the foul line for an old-style 37 points of the sort a 12-year-old Kevin Arnold could easily compute from the newspaper box score.

Only one problem for the Boilers. They use 3-pointers today. And guards and forwards who relentlessly drive to the rim off that threat.

Balance and tempo are the watchwords of today’s best college basketball. If you can’t rev the pace and score both inside and out, apply pressure on the perimeter and bring energy to both boards, you’re not winning at the highest level.

What Purdue did was fine against the average side in the Big Ten, of which they beat 17 during a season won in February.

It was not so great against the Connecticut Huskies who brought energy from all eight of their rotation players.

In a 75-60 win in the NCAA national championship in Phoenix, the Huskies owned the rest of the floor. They played as they have all season, as if they didn’t just want to win but wanted to submit their opponent like a Brazilian UFC fighter.

This was a methodical but demoralizing beatdown. If the game had gone on another 10 or 20 minutes, Connecticut would’ve added a commensurate pad to their lead.

Because their style of basketball is superior, and coach Dan Hurley has collected young men who thrive in it, who don’t merely want to win but seek to wear you out in the process. They played faster and with more belief and audacity than the Boilermakers throughout. That’s why they won every time in their 6-game NCAA run by >12 points in securing their second consecutive national title.

The stats tell some of the story of imbalance for Purdue. Edey scored 62 percent of its points. Incredibly, nobody other than he and point guard Braden Smith (12) had more than 5. It was as if the others were happy just to let those two handle the chores and stand by in case they were called upon.

Secondary options Lance Jones (early foul trouble), Mason Gillis, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer stood aside and never integrated into the mix despite all playing substantial minutes. Timid? Well, they didn’t seem eager to color outside the lines unless teacher gave them permission.

And Purdue coach Matt Painter did not deviate from the prescribed assignment. He simply allowed the pattern to continue. Edey was force-fed the rock as if mandated by some unseen work order.

Never did the Boilers attempt some sort of kicks out of the middle to the arc because, well, the shooters – Loyer, Smith, Jones and Gillis – never had actions employed to get them open.

And that was necessary because Hurley correctly assumed if he didn’t bother doubling Edey too often and stayed home on the perimeter, the Purdue guards could not make their own shots.

Actually, Hurley did make an adjustment in the second half that worked. He virtually never brought help on Edey in the first 20 minutes and left his centers, 7-2 starter Donovan Clingan and 6-10 sub Samson Johnson, alone on the big Boiler. In the second half, with Purdue beginning to frazzle physically, he allowed Rutgers-transfer Cam Spencer to selectively dig down in help on Edey.

Purdue never managed to burn that tactic with kicks to the arc. The Boilermakers, the second-most accurate 3-point shooting team in the nation (.402 3P%), finished 1-of-7 from distance.

How does that make sense? How could Painter have just conceded that his team would suddenly not mine that vein of points in the most important game in the program’s history? I don’t know, but it was a losing strategy.

That Loyer did not score and did not log an assist in 30 minutes is not a particular surprise. He has always been the weak link among the Purdue starters, simply not athletic or adventurous enough to compete with the likes of UConn’s backcourt at either end.

But Lance Jones taking only 3 shots and scoring 5 points is criminal. His early foul trouble doesn’t excuse it. He finished with only 23 minutes and logged only one more foul after the opening 10 minutes. Why wasn’t he put in position to be more involved?

You cannot blame Smith. The point guard was alone out there trying to make plays for his teammates, scrambling for boards, the only one trying to attack off the bounce. His 12 points, 8 assists and 2 steals were winning numbers. It was the rest of the team that just didn’t act as if they belonged. Only a resounding rebound slam by sub Cam Heide, a singular Purdue highlight, showed any gumption from the Purdue role players. And Heide was not heard from before or after.

By contrast, the Huskies showed up across the board, a team full of ballers led by three guards who played with an energy worthy of the stage.

Spencer (11 pts, 8 reb, 2 stl, 2 ast), a new player since his exit from Rutgers, was the maestro. He seized the moment and played with a defiant countenance, attacking Edey at every chance and almost always making the right counter move.

Freshman Stephon Castle (15 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast) played unafraid. He several times careened through the lane and made big shots at big moments when UConn stretched its lead out from the 36-30 halftime advantage.

And the Huskies’ best player, 5th-year senior Tristen Newton (20 pts, 7 ast, 5 reb), played his best when it meant most. He was fearless and relentless in 39 minutes, throwing himself into traffic, firing pinpoint passes from odd angles, taking and often making shots you need from your star.

For that, Newton was cited as the game’s most outstanding player because, well, someone somewhere a while back decided a member of the losing team cannot be so bestowed anymore. Why is that? If anything, Edey rightly winning the MVP would have accented just how much better was UConn’s team.

Hurley pushed all the right buttons with his subs. Johnson gave him 5 important minutes in battling Edey to a draw. Fourth guard Hassan Diarra entered for 13 minutes and played like a starter, hitting 4 of 6 shots including a three.

Balance and belief. That’s what a team is and that’s what Hurley has built. It was all way too much for the Boilermakers’ two-man show built around an old-school giant.

Which brings us to the ultimate irony. Unlike virtually all nationally relevant teams back in 1969 when Purdue last tread this national-title-game ground, the Boilermakers didn’t have a dominant big man at all. Their star was the ultimate assertive guard, a volume perimeter shooter by the name of Rick Mount.

That team was beaten 92-72 by UCLA and Alcindor, later to be known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Mount didn’t have a great night. But you know it wasn’t for lack of self-confidence.

Boy, this Purdue team could’ve used him Monday night.

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