UConn-Purdue is clash of giants college basketball deserves

GLENDALE, AZ — Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter isn’t just scouting the UConn Huskies for the national championship game in the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament on Monday night. In watching UConn rampage through the bracket for the second year in a row, Painter has been taking notes on what he can plagiarize for his own team going forward.

“I’m probably going to steal a couple things from them next year,” Painter said on Sunday ahead of the clash of the titans. “UConn is a very, very good basketball team.”

That might be an understatement at this point. A year ago, UConn won the national championship as a No. 5 seed with an average margin of victory of 20 points per game, the fourth biggest in men’s tournament history. Despite losing three players to the NBA and a couple more to graduation, this year’s version of the Huskies is even better. UConn is +125 in its first five tournament wins this year. The all-time record is 1999 Duke, who won their six games by +126.

UConn is showing unprecedented dominance in an era of the sport when that shouldn’t be possible. Huskies coach Dan Hurley knows Purdue is no slouch, either.

“Us and Purdue, we’ve clearly been the best two teams in the country the past two years,” Hurley said after his team defeated Alabama on Saturday night to advance to the national title game. “It’s just great for college basketball to get the two big dogs playing on Monday night.”

Hurley’s comment raised some eyebrows because of how Purdue’s season ended a year ago. The Boilermakers became just the second No. 1 seed to ever lose to a No. 16 seed when Fairleigh Dickinson shocked the world and broke their hearts. Purdue has been on a redemption tour all season that included the country’s most difficult non-conference schedule. Somehow, Painter’s team beat Gonzaga, Tennessee, Marquette, Alabama, and Arizona all by the middle of Dec.

Purdue’s regular season record didn’t mean much to outsiders who were waiting for another collapse in March. It hasn’t happened. Instead, the Boilermakers have been dominant in their own way, winning their five games by +98 points.

We’re left with the rare national championship game between the two best teams in the country. It’s setting up for a phenomenal storyline either way.

Purdue winning would be the ultimate reclamation after last year’s horrifying loss to a No. 16 seed. It would seal Zach Edey — the sport’s first back-to-back national player of the year in more than 40 years — as an all-time great college basketball player for the skeptics who refuse to already call him that.

UConn winning would solidify the Huskies as the sport’s new superpower. No team has won back-to-back national championships since Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators in 2006-07. That UConn has built an even better team after sending three starters to the NBA from last year’s champs is almost unbelievable.

For all of the intrigue in this matchup, it’s the battle of big men that will steal the show and reduce everything else to a secondary storyline.

Zach Edey vs. Donovan Clingan tale of the tape

Purdue’s Zach Edey and UConn’s Donovan Clingan are college basketball’s two biggest stars, literally and figuratively. Here’s how the two match up.

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Name: Zach Edey

Height: 7’4

Weight: 300 pounds

Wingspan: 7’10

Class: Senior

NBA Draft projection: First round, post-lottery

Key stats: 24.9 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.2 blocks per game on 66 percent true shooting and 71.1 percent shooting from the foul line.

What makes him so good? College basketball hasn’t seen a player like Edey since Ralph Sampson was roaming the court 40 years ago. He’s a skilled interior scorer, an elite rebounder, and can get to the free throw line at will. Edey also has a rare ability to avoid fouling … or at least convince the refs not to call them. The most impressive thing of all about Edey is his conditioning: In Purdue’s Elite Eight and Final Four wins, Edey was off the floor for 33 seconds combined. His ability to play the entire game at his size is mind-blowing, and could be the single biggest factor in this title game.

Edey has some shortcomings, too. He’s pretty slow defensively. Pick-and-pop big men give him a lot of trouble. He’s not an elite passer and can be forced into turnovers when the double team comes crashing down. He has zero outside shooting range, and is decent but not great from the foul line.

Purdue’s entire team is built to maximize Edey’s impossible combination of size, scoring, and rebounding. A player this big and this good is incredibly rare. It will be a treat to watch him on the biggest stage in the sport.

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Name: Donovan Clingan

Height: 7’2

Weight: 280 pounds

Wingspan: 7’7

Class: Sophomore

NBA Draft projection: Top-10, possibly top-5

Key stats: 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2.5 blocks per game on 63.7 percent true shooting and 58 percent shooting from the foul line.

What makes him so good? Clingan is the best defensive player in college basketball. He’s a rim-protecting giant in the mold of Rudy Gobert who can smother opponents simply by putting his arms up. Clingan’s mobility has been his biggest improvement this season, flashing the ability to play at the level of the screen and recover back to the rim. He’s also an excellent passer offensively. UConn will use him as the hub of their halfcourt actions, where Clingan can hit cutters or kick out to shooters. He’s also of course a threat to hammer home a dunk and grab a put-back bucket when he gets near the rim.

Clingan has a tendency to get into foul trouble. He’s not in elite shape, and rarely plays 30 minutes in a game. His scoring touch can leave a little to be desired, too: He’ll miss some bunnies around the rim that he should convert. Like Edey, Clingan is not a threat to space the floor as a shooter. He’s actively bad from the foul line.

The reality is with Clingan on the court, UConn typically blows their opponents out of the water. He covers so much ground defensively and takes up so space vertically that he can wreck any offensive game plan from the opposition. He’s never seen a test like Edey, though.

UConn vs. Purdue matchups

Purdue

PG: Braden Smith, sophomore

SG: Fletcher Loyer, sophomore

SF: Lance Jones, grad senior

PF: Trey Kaufman-Renn, sophomore

C: Zach Edey, senior

UConn

PG Tristen Newton, grad senior

SG: Cam Spencer, grad senior

SF: Stephon Castle, freshman

PF: Alex Karaban, sophomore

C: Donovan Clingan, sophomore

1 key factor in determining UConn vs. Purdue

If Purdue can keep the game close, Clingan’s ability to play big minutes could be the determining factor in the game. He’s only played 30+ minutes three times all year. He’s never played more than 32 minutes in a game. You know Edey isn’t coming out for a breather all night if he can avoid foul trouble again. This will be a physical challenge Clingan has never seen before.

UConn vs. Purdue prediction

UConn’s biggest advantage in this game is the size of their guards. While Edey and Clingan are tremendous players, to me the best NBA prospect in this game is Huskies freshman guard Stephon Castle. With a strong 6’6 frame, Castle can bulldoze Purdue’s weaker and smaller perimeter players on his way to the basket. Factor in the whirling offensive actions UConn can run around Clingan, and it’s hard to imagine the Boilermakers can keep up.

National championship prediction: UConn 80, Purdue 71

UConn vs. Purdue national championship start time, TV and streaming info, and more

Date: Monday, April 8, 2024

Location: Glendale, Arizona, State Farm Stadium

Time: 9:20 p.m. ET

TV and streaming: TBS