Yahoo Sports Despite Carsen Edwards' heroic effort, Purdue falls just short of Final Four
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For much of the season, Purdue guard Carsen Edwards has had three messages written in black marker on the white tape that encircled his left wrist:
"Thank God."
"Help Mama Out."
"The Man in the Arena."
The last of those is a reference to the famed quote from Theodore Roosevelt that exalts the glory of competition. It says, in part: "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly…"
Carsen Edwards failed while daring greatly Saturday night. He spent himself in a worthy cause. He competed such a great enthusiasm, such a great devotion, that he turned in one of the most thrilling and spectacular four-game runs in NCAA tournament history.
He honored the quote.
The fearless, undersized shooting savant dared so greatly that he became the first regional Most Outstanding Player from a losing team since Steph Curry in 2008. He made 27 three-point baskets in four games, tying the tournament record set by Michigan's Glen Rice 30 years ago in six games. He averaged 34.8 points — lighting up defending national champion Villanova for 42 last week and then Virginia for the same amount here Saturday night.
Edwards scored 56 percent of Purdue's points in an epic South region final, willing the No. 3 seed Boilermakers to within a fraction of a second of a Final Four before losing in overtime to the No. 1 seed Cavaliers, 80-75.
Former Purdue star Robbie Hummel, now a Big Ten Network analyst, stood at the entry to a deathly quiet Boilermakers locker room and tried to wrap his head around Edwards' 42-point, 10 3-point bombardment that came up just short.
"That was the best college offensive performance I've ever seen," Hummel said. "Against a team that plays defense like Virginia, that was amazing. Carsen Edwards was literally going one-on-five at times, and winning that fight."
Virginia guard Ty Jerome concurred: "That was the best performance I've ever played against."
Tireless and fearless, Edwards played 168 of Purdue's 170 minutes in this NCAA Tournament. Nothing was going to stop him.
The bouncy, 6-foot-1 junior just kept rising up over the Cavaliers, kept swishing shots — farther and farther out, no matter how many hands in his face, no matter how feverishly Virginia chased him off screens and attempted to keep him from those deadly flicks of the right wrist. Face impassive, short braids flopping as he darted and dashed and eluded the defense, Edwards just would not be denied.
The Cavaliers guarded him with size, using 6-foot-7 De’Andre Hunter to obscure Edwards' looks at the rim. Then they tried guarding him with quickness, using 5-foot-9 Kihei Clark to shadow Edwards off every screen. Neither worked.
"Kihei and Dre are both great on-ball defenders, and he just hit everything," Jerome said. "Going to the basket, step-back 3s. Unbelievable. Unbelievable."
In that most beautiful of shooting zones, Edwards kept launching 3-pointers that barely moved the net. It wasn't until his 10th and final made 3 that he got a little lucky — a launch from the wing that banked in with 1:06 left, seemingly the karmic kiss Purdue needed to win.
"He made me rip my play card in half when he hit the shot off glass," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "I just ripped it in half."
Edwards ripped the whole Cavalier defensive gameplay in half. Based upon a 35-game body of work, Virginia came into this matchup as the No. 3 defensive team in America, according to Ken Pomeroy's advanced metrics. Virginia left it No. 5, based almost solely on the shooting brilliance of Edwards.
"Those performances should send you to the Final Four," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "The fact that we couldn't make one more play stings."
The Boilermakers' last offensive play was the breaking point for Edwards. Down by three in the final seconds of overtime, he hurried the ball up the left sideline while being dogged by Clark. Anticipating a foul that would keep Purdue from getting up a tying 3, he rushed a pass ahead to teammate Ryan Cline curling to the wing in front of the Boiler bench.
The pass was wide. Cline couldn't corral it before it went out of bounds. Purdue was done, and Edwards' indomitable will cracked.
During an ensuing timeout, he had to be coaxed into the team huddle. Once there, Edwards bent down and slapped the floor, then stood up screaming — at himself, at his teammates, at the reality of a defeat he tried so valiantly to stave off.
"That was a tough one for me," said Edwards, completely composed in front of his locker after the game. "Obviously, I'm never going to give up, but I felt like it took us out of the opportunity to win. I don't like losing at all."
Said Painter: "I know he's beating himself up, but if it wasn't for Carsen Edwards we wouldn't even be in the game."
If it weren't for Carsen Edwards, what was supposed to be a rebuilding year at Purdue wouldn't have included a Big Ten regular-season co-championship and this charge to within a second of the program's first Final Four since 1980.
He came out of Texas as the No. 91 recruit in the country, a tweener of a guard. He was a natural scorer, but listed at 5-foot-11 then and 6-1 now (5-11 seems more accurate). Purdue lost four starters from the 2017-18 team that won 30 games, but it kept Edwards. He was enough to turn the rebuilding season into a shortcut back to the top.
Edwards was ninth in the nation in scoring heading into the Big Dance, at 23.8 points per game. Painter gave him the greenest of green lights, allowing him to jack up as many questionable shots as anyone in America.
Some games, he made a ton of them — 40 points against Texas, 36 against Wisconsin, 38 against Penn State. Some games, he missed a ton of them — there was a 1-for-20 stretch from 3-point range against Indiana and Nebraska in February. But the man in the arena never lost confidence, never lost conviction.
He kept shooting. Purdue kept winning. And Saturday night in a raucous Yum Center, Edwards damn near shot the Boilermakers to the Final Four.
Leaving the interview podium late Saturday night, Edwards had an ice bag taped to his left knee and a recovery drink in his right hand. He was dejected and drained, but unbowed.
"I'm tired," he said. "But at least it means that I gave everything I had."
The man in the arena honored Teddy Roosevelt's quote, honored the game, honored the NCAA tournament by failing while daring greatly.
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