Zach Edey carries Purdue in final game of college career, but falls short against UConn

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Last season, Purdue joined a club they didn’t want to be a part of when they were upset by a No. 16 seed as a No. 1 seed in the first round. They fell one game short of coming all the way back to win a national championship this year.

It wasn't for Purdue star center Zach Edey's lack of effort.

Edey, the sole Purdue player named to the Final Four all-tournament team, scored 37 of the Boilermakers’ 60 points in their 15-point loss to Connecticut in the NCAA men's tournament national championship game on Monday. Despite finishing with another double-double – 37 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks – Edey said he could have done more.

"I just got to player better," the 7-4 senior said following his final game with Purdue. "This is one of those games where I can’t go through stretches where I’m not effective. I had a few stretches today and that was the game."

He added: "When you play a team like UConn, you gotta be perfect for 40 minutes."

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Edey came out the gate hot and scored 16 points in the opening 14 minutes of the game, but he missed his next six shots and was scoreless for over 11 minutes. He broke his scoring drought on two free throws with 14:15 remaining in the game, but by that time, UConn was up 47-36, a lead they would extend to as many as 18 points.

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He didn't get much scoring help from the starters during that stretch. Braden Smith finished the game with 12 points and eight assists, but only was 4 of 12 from the field. Lance Jones added just five points and three rebounds, Trey Kaufman-Renn had four points and two rebounds and Fletcher Loyer was held scoreless. Purdue, which had the nation's second-best three point percentage this season, was held to a single 3-pointer on seven shots from beyond the arc.

"I thought our guys really gave good effort and energy defensively in guarding them. I thought the real difference ended up being their ability to offensive rebound in the second half," Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. "We were just wasting so much energy to fight once they got it to the double-digits; then we would get stops, and we couldn't get rebounds. That was just really hard for us to overcome at that time."

Edey played all but one minute and 46 seconds in the national championship game after going the full 40 minutes in their Final Four semifinal win over North Carolina State on Saturday and 39 minutes in their Elite Eight win over Tennessee on March 31. Despite saying he doesn't "believe in being tired," it was clear that Edey's heavy workload started to wear on him.

"Obviously you get tired, but it's what you want. No one is complaining about playing more games in March Madness," Edey said. "The minute load that I took on wears down on you and wears down your legs. ... I think Purdue always needs me on the floor. Purdue needs me to be productive. I don't have time to be tired. So I think that minute load and that run (to the championship game) is a blessing."

Edey stoically walked back to the locker room along his teammates after leaving everything on the floor in the loss. He made it a point to keep his head high: "I'm not a stoic guy, everyone shows grief in a different way. But for me, I'm always trying to represent, do the right thing. Obviously you never wanna lower you head, you wanna keep your head high no matter what with a Purdue jersey on."

Although Purdue wasn't able to win the program's first title, Edey said climbing all the way to the national championship game after last year's first-round exit is nothing to scoff at.

"I am so proud of everybody on that roster and the way we came back after that loss," Edey said. "Every time you go on social media, you hear everything, you see everything. It never affected us. We stayed professional. We never responded. We never let it change us. We're the same people, nothing got us out of who we are. We continue to battle that adversity on the court and we let that continue to motivate us."

During the six-game run in the NCAA Tournament, Edey tied Bill Bradley of Princeton from 1965 in amassing the second-most points in a single NCAA Tournament (177). Painter said the two-time AP player of the year is in the conversation for the greatest collegiate basketball players.

"When you look at his numbers against the greats, there’s no question he’s in the conversation. But he’s also the winningest player at Purdue," he said. "I’d always say, 'when is he going to have a bad game? When is he just not going to show up?' He always showed up. He always competed. He always played though physicality. He’s a very unselfish player."

Edey is headed to the pros next year, where Painter said he will "be a terrific NBA player," and his legacy at Purdue is solidified. Edey said he wants to be remembered as the guy who gave "100% every time I stepped on the floor."

"You can say whatever you want about me. You can say whatever you want about how I play," Edey said. "But you can never say that I didn’t give it 100% every time I stepped on the floor."