It's safe to say there is no love lost between Zach Edey and Dan Hurley. With just under seven minutes left in the first half of the NCAA Tournament championship game, guard Braden Smith dribbled the ball, looking to get into the paint to collapse the defense. In an effort to get Smith open, Edey set a screen on UConn's Stephon Castle. Castle did not see Edey at all and slammed into , with the former being thrown to the ground because of the impact. It also appeared as if Edey moved his left arm away from Castle, making it look like the center pushed the guard away to give Smith even more room to operate. Upon seeing the aftermath of the screen, Hurley was not pleased with the referees not calling a foul on the Purdue star and made his feelings known as he shouted from the sideline. Then, as the two teams walked to their respective benches during a timeout, Hurley approached Edey, gesturing to the floor where Edey dropped Castle. While Hurley was gesturing, he appeared to have said words to the referees about how there should have been something called on Edey's screen. As Edey continued walking to his bench, it , which caused the UConn coach to say something back to Purdue's star player. Though it was unclear what was said between the two men, both Edey and Hurley just walked away from each other as they maintained cooler heads. For Hurley's part, it makes sense if he were slightly irritated by Edey's actions as the 21-year-old got in the paint. In the first half, Edey had 16 points on 7-of-12
shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds, generally getting deep paint position against UConn's bigs. On the defensive end, Edey was a force, either deflecting or forcing opposing players to think about what they wanted to do in the paint, knowing the center was patrolling the paint. Case in point, Edey had a monstrous sequence, blocking two UConn shot attempts in quick succession, showing just how dominant he can be on that end. Still, Edey's stamina seemed to be a factor as once the first half began to wane, the and at some points, not involved in the play at all. That is something he will have to improve on, if he wants to play at the next level, which he intends to do. Edey is set to turn after confirming this season is will be his . The center from
Toronto was eligible for another year of college due to the Covid pandemic, but has opted against taking it. Edey has enjoyed a stunning college career with Purdue, winning the National College Player of the Year award in 2023 and 2024. Even Hurley is a huge fan of the future NBA star, revealing as much before Monday's game. Hurley told CBS Sports: "He's obviously, the best college player that I've seen, in terms of the impact and the production. "It's like Ralph Sampson-esque, in terms of just how his size changes the gravity of the court on both ends of the court. "The way that the roster this year is constructed around him, to be the best 3-point shooting team or even the second-best 3-point shooting team. Just the tactics, and the way (Purdue) utilizes a player of his caliber is what makes it really scary."