NCAA Tournament - UConn outlasts Alabama, sets up clash with Purdue in National Championship Game
Jason Fitz, Krysten Peek, and Danny Green analyze both National Semifinal games in Glendale, AZ, discussing how the Huskies secured their second consecutive national championship berth and the Boilermakers earned their first in 55 years.
Video Transcript
JASON FITZ: It's time for the March Madness recap presented by Max. Krysten Peek, Danny Green, Jason Fitz with Yahoo Sports. Our championship match-up is set. We know we're going to get Purdue taking on UConn. UConn gets there by way of a 14-point win in the Final Four. And KP, I've been talking about disrespect all day. There was plenty of disrespect in the beginning of this game.
KRYSTEN PEEK: It was very clear that Nate Oats and Alabama. Their game plan coming into this game was target the freshman Stephon Castle, make him beat us the entire game, and that's exactly what he did. He finished with 21 points. He had two early deep 3's, and it just set the tone for UConn. And then after that, it was off to the races, and it was just a business trip for them.
DANNY GREEN: They gave us what we wanted tonight. This whole weekend, the game was tough and close early. Both teams kind of ran with it later, but it was the battle of the bigs for me. It's going to be a battle of bigs all weekend. You had Burns versus Edey. You had Clingan versus Nelson, and the best bigs won in both those games. They controlled the paint.
So Clingan was the one that controlled the boards, controlled the paint, protected the paint, ran the floor, got some dunks, got them easy looks, and opened up the floor, particularly for his other teammates. Nelson, a hell of a fight, but it just was too much for him. He looked really small against Clingan, and I can't wait to see Clingan versus Edey and see how that match-up is.
JASON FITZ: Donovan the disruptor. I don't know. What we do know is that now they're trying to become the first team since Florida in '06, '07 to go back to back. In order to do that, they'll take on Purdue, who's in their first championship game since '69, nice, and they've never won one. So obviously everything about Purdue, KP, was about Zach Edey.
KRYSTEN PEEK: Absolutely, and it was a different Zach Edey than what we're used to seeing. It wasn't the 40 and 20 Zach Edey that we saw that was just dominant-- I mean, he was dominant in the paint obviously because that's where the mismatch was, but he was patient. He had a quiet-- it felt like a quiet 20 and 12, and he was waiting for his players-- his teammates to cut off the ball. He was letting the game come to him, and it was actually really refreshing to see that side of him.
DANNY GREEN: Yeah, the people that were doubting him before this tournament. He's really looking like that first-round pick that people didn't think he could be, just the maturity of him, and the way he's adjusting and adapting. He's shooting a couple floaters, hooks outside the paint little further out, him and burns went at it.
But he got the best of him, wore him down. I think DJ Burns really got tired early on, had to get some subs. And he just controlled the paint, blocking shots, rebounding, and also getting his teammates involved. The next match-up, the battle of the bigs is going to be even better with Clingan and Edey. I can't wait to see it.
JASON FITZ: I think your point about Burns is so important. He's one of the best stories of the entire tournament, but one of the stories of this game is that when he was on the floor for NC State, he struggled, and they struggled as a result. We will not struggle to watch the championship game on Monday. Again, the battle of the bigs, the big boy breakdown, whatever you want to call it, we know it's going to be absolutely epic. Also be sure to keep up with all the tournament action on Max.
