'It's not fair' | Purdue basketball has Zach Edey, Ohio State had no response

CHICAGO − It's not fair.

That's the best way Matt Painter could describe it.

Fortunately for the Purdue basketball coach, he's on the right side of that unfairness.

Credit Painter though for plucking a 7-foot-4 Zach Edey after he reclassified to the 2020 recruiting class when not many others gave him a second look.

Credit Purdue assistant coach Brandon Brantley and former assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry, now the head coach for Penn State, for developing Edey into the most dominant force in college basketball.

It's not Purdue's fault Ohio State has been decimated with injuries to key players or that the Buckeyes' only current center is 6-foot-11 freshman Felix Okpara.

But the Boilermakers were darn sure going to take advantage of that.

So they did.

Edey finished with 32 points and 14 rebounds in Purdue's 80-66 Big Ten Tournament semifinal victory over the Buckeyes. He had 17 points in the first half and a double-double alone in the second half (15 points, 13 rebounds).

"It just makes a lot of sense just to get him the basketball, get them in foul trouble, get to the free throw line, and try to steal as many points as possible," Painter said.

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Surveying what Ohio State had available on the roster, it was obvious where the advantage was.

Purdue's director of player development, and former Boilermaker guard, P.J. Thompson pulled Edey aside Saturday and advised him to attack relentlessly.

"There's kind of like a point halfway through the first half when one of our coaches, P.J., kind of came up to me, this is just one of those days you've got to get 30," Edey said. "So I just kind of stuck with it. I executed the game plan. I just tried my best to score the ball every time I touched it."

Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann threw others at Purdue's big man - Eugene Brown III and Isaac Likekele, 6-7 and 6-5 guards, respectively - but the results were similar. Despite needing 25 shots to score 32 points, Edey imposed his will.

How is anyone supposed to stop Edey with a single man?

Caleb Furst, Purdue's 6-foot-10 sophomore forward, has tried in practice before coming to the only logical conclusion.

"The short answer is you can't really," Furst said. "That's why we trust him so much to make the right play if they do go one-on-one. We trust him to score. If they double, sometimes even then he'll score and get the bucket."

The key to Edey's greatness is not that he's tall, which is obviously an asset to his game, but his footwork.

Guys who are 7-4 don't move like Edey.

It's why even when Holtmann wanted to use multiple defenders, his players couldn't close fast enough to have an impact.

"We were trying to trap him. We just couldn't get there," Holtmann said. "He got it too deep a couple times, more than a couple times. Their ability, they do a great job obviously getting him the ball, but also he just plants in the paint and you can't move him. He just plants there, and he's immovable."

Saturday wasn't the first instance verifying Holtmann's statement.

Even at a place known for its big men, Edey separated himself from other 7-footers, collecting at least 30 points and 10 rebounds for the seventh time this season. In the past 25 years, all other Purdue players have combined to do that just five times.

The last team to truly have success with its formula to counter Edey's size and ability was St. Peters.

That was last year's Sweet 16.

The Peacocks were more physical that day and quick to double before Edey could react.

If you try to man Edey, he will outman you because he's twice the size of most men.

"That's what you've got to do. You've got to give everything and anything to deal with his big ass," Painter said. "Sorry, that was kind of locker room. I shouldn't have said that. But it's true.

"And that's how they feel, and they don't feel it's fair, and it's not. That's like playing with Glenn Robinson in college. There's nights when he's got it rolling, you're at his mercy."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: 'It's not fair' | Purdue has Zach Edey and Ohio State had no response