March Madness 2024: Zach Edey’s Purdue Boilermakers’ Road to NCAA Championship

Several fans had their queries resolved as the clock struck Selection Sunday. A lot of anticipation reached its fruition as most fans breathed a sigh of relief to see their team make the final cut. One such team that had concerned a lot of basketball followers was the Purdue Boilermakers. Boilermakers were predicted to win the conference tournament but unfortunately faltered while playing the semifinals against a team they had beaten twice in the regular season – the Wisconsin Badgers. 

The defeat distressed Purdue fans – deeply concerned about their team’s NCAA run. However, they breathed a sigh of relief on seeing their team making it as the no. 1 seeded in the much-anticipated tournament. But despite being numero uno, Purdue’s chequered history might return to haunt them.

Ghosts of the Past

Purdue Boilermakers faced Farleigh Dickinson Knight in the last season. Boilermakers were poised as the top-seeded team and clashed with the 16-seeded opponents on March 17, 2023. In what initially looked to be a cakewalk for Purdue turned into a tale of distress. Knights clashed with Purdue with equal aggression and rigor and contained the top team to an average score of 31 while edging past them with 32 points in the first half.

The second half was equally competitive as Boilermakers could only score 27 points as FDU skimmed past with 31 points. A team that was considered one of the best and favorites to lift the title had a disheartening exit from the tournament. What was a paradise to walk for Zach Edey became a bed of thorns instead. 

The overall scoreline read in favor of FDU with a 63-58 margin. Thus FDU became the first 16-seeded team winning a First Four match that ended the season for the 1st-seeded team. Now with the March Madness coming close this time, Boilermakers must be worried about facing the same fate once again.

The Team this time

Boilermakers are well balanced by exceptional players, especially Zach Edey. Edey has scored 24.4 points per game along with 11.7 rebounds per match. He has taken the team responsibilities on his shoulders and is the go-to player if Purdue have to undo their walk of shame. His averages show that he is a contender for the NPOY awards this season.

Edey is well supported by guards Braden Smith, Lance Jones, and Fletcher Loyer. They are backed by forwards namely – Mason Gillis and Trey Kaufman-Renn. The rest of the team excluding Edey averages from 12.5 to 6.1. But the problems start if Edey is not able to reach the benchmarks for some reason that he has set for himself this season. Thus an overreliance on a star player has been the core of Purdue’s downfall.

Another major formula to defeat Purdue was cracked by Badgers recently. They contained the rest of the players and edged past Purdue in the conference semi-finals. Thus Boilermakers became the first team ranked in the AP Polls top 4 this season that were ousted from the conference tournament in the semi-finals. 

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Edey’s team will have to take note of their lackings and make sure that they do not let happenings like the previous season affect them. They would be looking to grab the title this year and prove their caliber when it matters the most.

The Upcoming Battle

Purdue will next battle it out against the winner of the Grambling and Montana State contest. The two teams are 16th-seeded and will lock horns in the First Four clash on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.

Grambling have a 20-14 tally and are first in the SWAC. Similarly, Montana have a 17-17 stat and are ranked at the fifth position in the Big Sky. Though both the teams are not as good as Purdue, still it is going to be a tough competition.

If Boilermakers win this match, then they will be clashing against the winner of TCU Horned Frogs and Utah State. Therefore, the road ahead doesn’t look easy for Purdue especially as they might contest against Gonzaga or Kansas Jayhawks.

It will be interesting to see some tough clashes take place as Boilermakers reach the Sweet 16. Hopefully, they will be as strong as they look on paper and forget their disheartening woes from the upset in the conference tournament. If they take the lessons in a positive stride and match up their confidence, then there is no beating them.

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