Caleb Love and No. 1 Arizona ready for huge test against Zach Edey and No. 3 Purdue
Caleb Love has come face-to-face with Zach Edey before, and it certainly left a mark on Love.
Back in November 2021, Love’s No. 18-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels faced off against Edey’s No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers when the two were sophomores. Edey was still ramping up his role to where it is today, finishing with nine points and four rebounds in 19 minutes in a 93-84 Purdue victory, but the 7-foot-4 center's sheer size made an impression.
“I do remember him being a beast, and him imposing his will,” said Love, who finished the game with 18 points and four assists himself. “He's a great player. Obviously, he won National Player of the Year, so you’ve got to respect that. He's put a lot of work in to improve his game over the course of his time at Purdue.”
Both Love and Edey have come a long way since then. They’re now seniors, leading two of college basketball’s top teams and carrying championship expectations. Love has crossed the country from Chapel Hill to Tucson; Edey is coming off one of the most statistically dominant individual seasons with one of the most disappointing team endings in recent memory.
How to watch Arizona vs Purdue: Time, live stream info for Saturday’s men’s college basketball game
Now, the two will be on opposite ends of another crucial ranked matchup. Saturday’s game between the No. 1-ranked Arizona Wildcats and No. 3 Boilermakers, starting at 4:30 p.m. EST and airing exclusively on Peacock, has a claim to the most important and highly anticipated game of the men’s college basketball season. Love said his team is treating it as such.
“It's a big game, it's an important game for us,” Love said. “But I think we go in there with our hard hats on and ready to go to war.”
By the numbers
All the advanced metrics confirm what the numbers next these programs’ names indicate: These are two of the absolute elite teams in college basketball, and we are in for one hell of a game.
Arizona and Purdue are the No. 2 and No. 3 teams, respectively, in KenPom’s Adjusted Efficiency Margin, which measures teams on both ends of the floor. They are the only two teams that KenPom rates in the top 10 on both offense and defense. Bart Torvik’s rating system, meanwhile, has Purdue as the No. 1 team in the nation, with Arizona close behind at No. 3.
They say styles make fights, and the numbers also tell us how these teams compare and contrast. The Wildcats and Boilermakers are among the most efficient scoring teams in the country, ranking 12th and 24th, respectively, in effective field goal percentage per Bart Torvik. These are teams that seek out good shots like bloodhounds, as evidenced by the fact that they both rank in the top 30 in 3-point percentage but outside the top 230 in 3-point attempt rate. Get ready to watch offense executed at the highest level.
Here are the four differences in the teams’ statistical profiles that could help decide the outcome:
Purdue has Zach Edey, but Arizona is actually the better rebounding team. The Wildcats are first in defensive rebounding percentage and eighth in offensive rebounding percentage, whereas the Boilermakers are 31st and 41st, respectively. Behind 7-footers Oumar Ballo and Motiejus Krivas, Arizona has the size to contend with Edey.
“It's a great matchup because, obviously, Zach Edey, he's a great basketball player,” Ballo said. “Not only just he's big and tall, but he knows how to use his body, where to put himself to make people surrender or draw fouls. He's a great basketball player, but I also don't think he [has] played anyone like myself yet. So, I feel like it's going to be a great test for both of us to see how we're going to handle each other.”
Purdue is great at getting to the line, ranking 13th in the country in free throw rate. Arizona is great at defending without fouling, ranking fifth in opponent free throw rate. Who will win that battle of strengths?
#1 Arizona and #3 Purdue meet on Peacock with Game of the Year hype
Arizona plays the fifth-fastest pace in the country per KenPom, while Purdue is middle of the pack at No. 152. Will the Wildcats run roughshod? Or will the Boilermakers slow things down to their speed?
“I think the transition is definitely going to help us because we play so fast,” Love said. “They're kind of a slower pace, but they still kind of play fast, but I feel like our transition and offensive rebounding is going to definitely improve our chances of winning.”
Purdue is battle-tested, boasting the seventh-toughest schedule to this point in the season with wins over No. 7 Marquette, No. 10 Gonzaga and No. 12 Tennessee at the Maui Invitational. Although Arizona has victories over No. 21 Duke, No. 23 Wisconsin and Michigan State, KenPom ranks its strength of schedule at No. 124. Purdue is accustomed to playing the best of the best this season, and Arizona needs to match that level from tip-off.
How to watch Arizona vs Purdue
Date: Saturday, December 16
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
Time: 4:30 PM ET
Streaming: Peacock
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