NC State’s biggest ‘chore’ against Purdue in Final Four: limiting big man Zach Edey

Purdue coach Matt Painter doesn’t have to worry about defending Zach Edey but he knows what other coaches face.

“It’s a chore,” Painter said, summing it up in three words.

A chore? That almost makes it sound benign. Benign it is not.

One look at Edey up close and you know what you’re up against. He’s listed at 7-foot-4 and is that. He’s listed at 300 pounds and is that.

Edey has a strong center of gravity – no stick legs on this guy – that makes the senior hard to root out of the post. Good luck trying.

“He’s had tough games before,” Painter said of the consensus All-American from Toronto. “Everything hasn’t been perfect.

“But he’s going to play the whole game and he’s going to compete and he’s going to go after every rebound. He wants the basketball. He definitely wants the basketball at crunch time.”

To beat Purdue (33-4) on Saturday in the Final Four semifinal, N.C. State must limit the big man’s touches. The Pack (26-14) has Ben Middlebrooks and Mohamed Diarra, both 6-10, both agile, to throw at Edey and will use both along with D.J. Burns Jr. and his 6-9, 300-pound frame.

“He’s definitely a force inside,” MIddlebrooks said. “We’ll try to keep him from getting anything easy. We’ll get some help defense, try to get the guards to dig in and lock in.

“We feel like we’ve got the best forecourt in the country with me, DJ Burns and we have experience against great post guys in the ACC like Armando Bacot, Kyle Filipowski and Quinten Post. Edey is a little bigger than usual but at the end of the day it’s basketball and we’ll get it done.”

Looking at Edey’s season stats, his efficiency rating is almost off the charts. He has scored 20 or more points in his last 14 games and taken 10 or more free throws in a game 11 times in that stretch.

Edey’s last game might have been his best. Against Tennessee in the Midwest Regional final, Edey responded with 40 points and 16 rebounds, finishing 13 of 21 from the field and making 14 free throws in the 72-66 victory.

Some teams don’t have 22 free-throw attempts in a game. Edey had 22 against the Vols.

In the Boilermakers’ Jan. 23 game against Michigan, Edey was matched up against Tarris Reed Jr., who is 6-10 and listed at 265 pounds. Edey did not have a big game offensively – 16 points, going 4-of-6 at the foul line – but a big game wasn’t needed as Purdue rolled, 99-67.

But in watching video of Edey, another thing that catches the eye is the play of Braden Smith. Quickly noticeable: the sophomore guard is the engine of the team, constantly in motion, a super ballhandler, adept at finding the open man.

Smith has 278 assists this season, the most in Purdue history, and is averaging 7.5 a game. He also said he is driven by what he calls the negativity he has spotted about his game on social media.

“I love it, I genuinely do,” Smith said Thursday. “I think it’s the best thing in sports when people say you can’t do something, then you go out and do it. It’s like a big punch back in the face.”

Smith has gotten in a few punches. He has had 10 or more assists in 11 games, with a season-high 15 against Gonzaga in Purdue’s 80-68 win in the regional semifinal.

Smith can score, too. In back-to-back games against Alabama and Arizona, he had 27 and then 26 points as the Boilermakers won both.

“Honestly, Edey’s a great player but they’ve got a great team,” the Pack’s Middlebrooks said. “We have to shut down a lot of people.”

The Wolfpack has been the talk of the NCAA Tournament and Burns as been mobbed by the media at every turn.

In the Pack’s loss to Creighton in last year’s NCAA Tournament opener, the matchup was Burns against 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner, one of the Big East’s best big men. It did not go well for Burns.

Burns had his first shot blocked by Kalkbrenner under the basket and it did not get a lot better for him – Burns had two points, missing four of five shots, in his 19 minutes in the game. Kalkbrenner dominated, finishing with 31 as the Pack fell, 72-63.

Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts added Middlebrooks and Diarra through the transfer portal to add size up front. Middlebrooks has been an instant energy source in a lot of games and a willing defender, and Diarra has worked the boards hard and gotten better defensively as the season moved along.

Edey, like Burns, has been pursued for interviews at every turn in the NCAA Tournament and answered every form of question.

On Thursday, he was asked if he was taller than a moose. Yes, he said, which was correct.

What about Big Bird of the muppets? Edey wasn’t sure but smiled when told Big Bird was 8-foot-2. So it went.

Purdue’s Painter had another, more serious thought on his guy.

“Obviously with Zach, I’m biased. Best player in college basketball,” Painter said. “But he plays hard, keeps getting better, keeps working on his game. And he’s very, very unselfish.”