April 8 (UPI) — The nation’s best player will take on the country’s top team to decide the 2024 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament finale, with Zach Edey leading Purdue against reigning champion UConn on Monday in Glendale, Ariz.
Tip-off is scheduled for 9:20 p.m. EDT at State Farm Stadium. The game will air on TBS, TNT and TruTV, as well as on streaming platforms. The defending-champion Huskies are 6 1/2-point favorites to beat the Boilermakers.
“This is the game where no one really expects much from us,” Edey told reporters Sunday. “We are going to come out with that energy. We believe in ourselves. We know what type of team we are and the type of guys we have.
“All the pressure is on them. We are just going to come out and play loose and play Purdue basketball.”
As of Monday morning, the least expensive ticket price for the game was $116 on the secondary market, before taxes and fees. A crowd of more than 70,000 is expected to attend to watch the Huskies attempt to become the first team since the 2006 and 2007 Florida Gators to win consecutive titles.
Senior guards Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer lead the Huskies in scoring, with 14.9 and 14.4 points per game, respectively. The Huskies (36-3) also have three other players who average double-figure scoring: sophomore forward Alex Karaban (13.5), sophomore center Donovan Clingan (13.1) and freshman guard Stephon Castle (11).
The Huskies allowed the 10th-fewest points per game (63.5) and scored the 21st-most (81.6) this season. They lead the nation with a 1.91 assist-to-turnover ratio. They are tied with the Boilermakers for the second-most assists per game (18.7). The Huskies rank No. 5 in field goal percentage (49.7%) and No. 6 in field goal percentage allowed (38.9%).
They won 26 of their last 27 games, including a current 12-game winning streak.
Led by Edey, the Boilermakers (34-4) tied Saint Mary’s for the best rebounding margin (11) in the country this season. They tied Kentucky for No. 11 in assist-to-turnover ration (1.64) and rank No. 12 in field goal percentage (48.9%) and No. 2 in 3-point percentage (40.5%).
Edey — named National Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons — leads the nation with 24.9 points per game. The 7-foot-4 senior center also totaled a national-best 464 rebounds through his first 38 games this season.
Boilermakers sophomore guard Braden Smith leads the nation with 284 assists. He also logged 12 points and 5.9 rebounds per game en route to the tournament finale.
Senior guard Lance Jones (11.9 points per game) and sophomore guard Fletcher Loyer (10.6) are the Boilermakers’ other top scorers. The team won 11 of its last 12 games, including their five-game winning streak in the tournament.
“There are just not a lot of holes in either team,” Huskies coach Dan Hurley said. “There is NBA-level talent up and down each roster and teams that are well-rounded without a lot of vulnerabilities.”
Castle, who scored a team-high 21 points to lead UConn over Alabama on Saturday in the Final Four, is expected to be the first player of Monday’s participants to be picked in the 2024 NBA Draft. Clingan is also projected as a first-round pick.
Edey, Karaban, Spencer and Newton are among the other players expected to be selected in the 2024 NBA Draft, which will be held June 26 to 27 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“We’ve been the two best programs the past two years, us and Purdue,” Newton said. “It’s a great matchup. We are looking forward to it.”
