How the nation’s shortest team found a way to keep the ball away from Zach Edey

COLUMBUS, Ohio. — Purdue center Zach Edey is sitting at his locker inside Nationwide Arena head down, dried blood on his scraped and bruised-covered arms, clearly dejected after suffering what could be considered the worst loss in college basketball history.

He’s speaking in a barely audible tone, practically whispering, but it’s what he’s saying that speaks volumes about him as a person.

He’s talking about the time spent at practice, the late-night shooting sessions that happen when the glitz, glamor and pressure of the NCAA tournament is the last thing on anyone’s mind. The time spent watching his teammates catch balls from the shooting gun and fire 3-pointers, over and over again.

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It’s that time together that instilled Edey’s confidence in his teammates. The confidence was so strong, that when Fairleigh Dickinson sent two to three players barreling at him in the paint, he knew to make the correct basketball play and pass the ball out to open teammates time and time again.

COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 17: Zach Edey #15 of the Purdue Boilermakers works against Ansley Almonor #5 of the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights during the first half in the first round game of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 17, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio.

“I have so much trust in all of our shooters,” Edey said. “This just sucks. … Every time we get a shot from really anybody on our team, I have the utmost confidence that it’s going to go in. We have so many guys that can knock down 3s at a high clip. It’s just unfortunate we weren’t able to get it done today.”

Purdue’s game plan with Edey, the tallest player in the NCAA at 7-4, against 16th-seeded FDU, the shortest team in Division I should’ve been simple: Get the ball inside to the big man. But getting the ball inside when every player on the opposing team is working to prevent the entry pass is extremely difficult. FDU put two players on Edey in the paint, one in front and one behind. Getting the ball into Edey against two players is tough but far from impossible. What FDU did to take away Edey’s touches was bring another player flying in off the ball to Edey as soon as he made the catch, kind of like a safety breaking on a receiver in football.

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“I think they did a good job coming weakside as they were fronting Zach and so that somewhat throws us off a little bit, but that’s no excuse to not be able to deliver the post player the ball,” Purdue forward Mason Gillis said. “We have to be Zach’s eyes because he can’t see behind him wherever they’re doing that. He may feel open, and we see that guy kind of playing cat-and-mouse in the back, so we just have to read it. You just have to get better at that.”

Smart basketball play or not, Purdue could’ve forced the ball inside to the Big Ten Player of the Year anyway, but everyone on the Boilermakers bench thought the kick-outs from the post for open 3s would fall eventually. They didn’t. Purdue shot 5-of-26 (19%) from 3 against FDU. On the season Purdue shot 32% from 3.

With no outside game, FDU had no reason to stop selling out to stop Edey. With 9:21 left in the game, Edey grabbed an offensive rebound and finished through contact, tying the score at 49. That was Edey’s final field goal of the game. His free throw with 8:32 left was his final point of the game. Over the final 8 minutes and 32 seconds of the game, the undersized Knights kept the Big Ten’s giant off the scoreboard.

Even when he couldn’t get the ball inside, Edey used his length to tip the ball out to his teammates. Sometimes he’d tip the ball directly to a teammate, sometimes he’d bat the ball in the air hoping to keep the play alive. Those batted balls force the defense to scramble, usually leading to open 3s. Purdue usually makes open 3s, on this night in March, it didn’t.

Edey finished with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting. He added 15 rebounds, three blocks and one assist. That stat line is a dominant game for most people. Purdue faithful may feel Edey left some meat on the bone. If one or two of Edey’s kick-outs or batted balls lead to a made 3, this game is probably different.

March Madness has a way of producing Cinderella stories. Against Purdue, the Knights’ sound defensive strategy created a David vs. Goliath upset.

“I think he passed out of the post really well today when he was able to touch it,” Purdue guard Ethan Morton said. “Obviously, they did a good job not really letting him touch it. But he made do with what he could get. They had a great game plan. Does it change if we make two more of those 3s or three more of those 3s? You know you always wonder that, but that’s not what happened.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue star Zach Edey kept quiet late in loss to Fairleigh Dickinson