Purdue basketball's win vs Marquette duplicates feat seen just once before in 4 decades
Zach Edey and Purdue basketball did much more than just win the 2023 Maui Invitational tournament on Wednesday. Their win over Marquette basketball duplicated a gaudy feat UConn pulled off 12 years ago, per OptaSTATS.
Over the last three days, has beaten teams ranked No. 4, 7 & 11 in the AP Top 25 poll.They join UConn (March 10-12, 2011) as the only teams over the last 40 years to beat teams ranked in the Top 15 of the AP Poll on three consecutive days. pic.twitter.com/YW6UdHs3og
— OptaSTATS November 23, 2023
Senior center Zach Edey scored 28 points and grabbed 15 boards to lead No. 2 Purdue to a 78-75 win over No. 4 Marquette basketball in the finals of the Maui Invitational.
Thanks mainly to Edey, Purdue basketball won its first-ever Maui Invitational title. The 2022 National Player of the Year earned the tourney's MVP honors after the historic victory.
Purdue basketball head coach Matt Painter lauded his prized center after the final whistle.
“He's a horse. He's a moose down there. He doesn't have crap that a lot of young people have that get recruited heavily – he doesn't have that. He doesn't have a sense of entitlement. He's gonna play and he wants to earn what he gets,” Matt Painter said.
Purdue also beat No. 11 Gonzaga and No. 7 Tennessee in the previous two days. Zach Edey 23-point, 10-rebound performance against Tennessee basketball prompted some fans to compare him to former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming.
Edey's performance against Tennessee had an important historical implication. He became the first college baller since Texas' Kevin Durant to record 110 points, 50 rebounds, and 15 blocks in the first five games of the season.
If Edey could keep this up, he could find himself in a two-way race with Kansas' Hunter Dickinson for 2023 National Player of the Year honors.
Matt Painter and Purdue basketball have a bigger goal in mind, though: winning their first national title in men's college basketball.
