On NC State’s trek to an NCAA Tournament title, another big man poses a big challenge

In 1974, it was Bill Walton, “Big Red,” the scourge of UCLA, standing in the way.

Nine years later, in 1983, it was Ralph Sampson of Virginia — twice — and Hakeem Olajuwon of Houston, the one they called “The Dream.”

Now comes Zach Edey of Purdue.

Winning a national championship is never easy — OK, granted, maybe a bit easier for Connecticut last season. Championship teams find a way to get it done, to handle the pressure on the game’s biggest stage, to find a way to beat the other team’s best, regardless of size or skill.

Walton had both. So did Sampson, something of a basketball wunderkind at 7-foot-4, and Olajuwon.

The term “rim protector” was not heard in the early 1980s, but Olajuwon provided just that, at times seeming to swat away everything.

N.C. State got past them all in winning its two national titles. To win a third, it must find a way to neutralize Edey, the 7-foot-4 Canadian wearing No. 15, in Saturday’s NCAA semifinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Solving Bill Walton’s mystique

With the passing of time, many of Walton’s exploits as a college superstar at UCLA have been forgotten as he has become the glib, slightly wacky hoops commentator on TV. But suffice it to say the Bruins by 1974 had won seven straight NCAA titles. Walton scored 44 points in the 1973 title game, missing just one of 22 shots, as UCLA beat Memphis State in the first Monday night finish in NCAA Tournament history.

Walton, listed at 6-11, came to Greensboro prepared to cap his UCLA career with another championship.

‘UCLA had this great mystique about them,” said Monte Towe, the Wolfpack point guard in 1974. “Walton had this mystique about him.”

But the Wolfpack had a defensive answer for Walton in 1974 – 7-2 center Tommy Burleson, who hounded him enough in the semifinal game in Greensboro for the Pack to come away with an 80-77 victory in two overtimes.

“Tommy and Walton went at it all game,” Towe said. “And it was a little funny watching (6-8) Timmy Stoddard get Walton flustered when Tommy was out of the game for a stretch.”

Working around Sampson, Olajuwon

The Pack had not beaten Sampson at Virginia until the 1983 ACC championship game in Atlanta. But the Wolfpack won, then faced and beat Sampson again two weeks later in the West Regional final as 6-11 Cozell McQueen, an unsung center, battled Sampson in the post and the Pack controlled the pace of the game.

The Pack’s strategy against Olajuwon in the 1983 title game: rely on perimeter shooting.

Good plan.

Olajuwon, who had 20 points and 18 rebounds, blocked seven shots. But State made enough jumpers — senior guard Dereck Whittenburg had 14 points — to get it to the final seconds in a 52-52 tie before Lorenzo Charles won it on “Destiny’s Dunk.”

Containing Edey

Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said Tuesday he did not expect his team to have any stage fright Saturday, before or during the game to be played before more than 63,000 Final Four fans at State Farm Stadium.

“We are completely locked in and focused,” Keatts said on a media call. “The moment has not bothered us.”

But Edey could. He’s gotten all the accolades worth having: All-America, national player of the year, Big Ten player of the year, all that.

In Purdue’s run to the Final Four, its first since 1980, Edey has averaged 30 points and 16 rebounds a game. The senior had 40 points as the Boilermakers topped Tennessee to win their NCAA regional and with his 7-foot-11 wingspan makes dunks a low-risk, low-effort strategy for Purdue.

“He’s going to get his points,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “He’s too good a player. He understands his space so well. One of the hardest things to do is to keep him off the offensive boards. He’s a hard guy to guard when he misses his own shot.”

Edey also gets to the foul line a lot, making 301 of an NCAA-high 424 foul shots this season (71.4%). He’s the first college player since Pete Maravich in 1970 at LSU to take more than 400 free throws in a single season.

The Wolfpack (26-14) in the past two seasons have had success containing and at times frustrating such ACC big men as Quinten Post of Boston College. The 7-foot senior had six points and fouled out in a late-February game at N.C State, then ignited for 30 points two games later against Pitt.

The rub: Post is four inches shorter and 65 pounds lighter than Edey, albeit able to step out and hit some 3’s. Edey is quite literally a bigger challenge.

“Our guys have responded to every different situation we have had,” Keatts said. “And not only responded, but got stronger every game.”

D.J. Burns did. He had 21 of his 29 points in the second half Sunday as the Pack surged past Duke in the second half for an 12-point win in the South Regional final in Dallas.

Pack forward Ben Middlebrooks grinned when asked about Burns’ schooling of Duke.

“I see a lot of that every single day in practice trying to guard him,” Middlebrooks said. “It was amazing to see him doing it to someone else, dominating like that. I love it.”

A lot of Purdue players likely say the same about Edey, now the big guy in the Wolfpack’s way.