‘It’s a double-edged sword’: Defending Zach Edey has come with a cost for Indiana basketball — but staying ‘aggressive’ with him is the key

No program around the country has faced Zach Edey more than the Indiana basketball program and this Saturday could be the final matchup between the two as IU travels to West Lafayette for the series-finale this season.

Edey is 4-3 against the Hoosiers in his career and is averaging 19.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per game — including a 0-point and 0-rebound effort in his first matchup. In his last three games, Edey is putting up monster numbers, averaging 30.7 points and 16.0 rebounds a game.

He’s also 24-of-30 from the foul line across the last three matchups, a stat that Mike Woodson is well aware of.

“When we battled them in the past with Trayce (Jackson-Davis) and Race (Thompson) and those guys the last couple years, we were able to bang him a little bit. He banged Trayce some. Kind of went back and forth,” Woodson said on Thursday. “If you remember the one year, hell, Trayce only played 10, 11 minutes in the ballgame (because of fouls). Just didn’t let him play against Edey.”

Edey averages 10.4 free throw attempts per game this season and is shooting 71.1 percent from the foul line. He ranks first in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes at 9.1 and eighth nationally in free throw rate.

In the first matchup Indiana had with Edey this season, the reigning National Player of the Year went 11-of-12 from the line and drew 12 fouls. Indiana big man Kel’el Ware was limited to eight minutes in the first half with two fouls.

For the game, Edey finished with 33 points on 11-of-23 shooting and 14 rebounds. On the flip side, Ware had just five points on 2-of-6 shooting and six rebounds.

On Saturday, that matchup will once again prove extremely important if Indiana wants an opportunity to knock off the second-ranked Boilermakers on their home floor.

“Well, again, maybe I just need to call the officials and tell them don’t call fouls. I don’t know,” Woodson said. “Again, they established themselves as a team based on Edey inside demanding so much attention that he’s getting called, he is getting his calls … And Ware caught some of that here (in the first game). He picked up two early ones and had to go to the bench. So it’s just how the officials are calling it that game that will determine.”

But being physical is how Indiana went 2-0 against Purdue a season ago. Also, trying to push Edey as far away from the basket as possible. But that’s no easy task.

However, it’s also the only way at trying to limit the impact Edey will have on the game — so, it’s a ‘double-edged sword’.

“If you push him out and start trying to shove him out, that’s where fouls are picked up. It’s a double-edged sword,” Woodson said. “I’m not saying we’re not going to bang. We got to attempt to bang and be aggressive with him.

“If not, damned if you do, damned if you don’t. So there is no secret method. Ware has to be a little bit more physical than he was here at home so he doesn’t establish deep low-post catches. We might try maybe fronting him some. I don’t know yet.”

One difference in defending Edey this year vs year’s past is the shot-making around him. It’s no secret that Purdue has expanded its offensive game because of its ability to knock down shots. That creates a massive advantage for the Boilermakers when opposing teams are game planning.

Purdue is shooting 40.1 percent as a team from three, making 8.6 3s a game. Those numbers are up from 32.2 percent and 6.8 3s last year.

“It creates more space to run things and they have a decision to make. Last year, the decision was made for them,” Painter said on Thursday about opposing defenses. “They were like, ‘this is what we’ll live with if this team is going to make shots, we’re going to lose. But this gives us the best change’. People realize now if we are going to go get 12, 13, 14 3s to go along with Zach, we are probably going to win the game, right? So they have to think about what can we take away. If they stay with us and stay 1 on 1 there (against Edey), it’s not to say it can’t work, but it hasn’t worked a lot. We are normally going to get him to the free throw line, get a lot of layups and dunks and that’s what you want.”

Edey is averaging 24.3 points, 13.5 rebounds and shooting 65 percent from the field in 12 Big Ten games this season. His second-lowest shooting percentage of the entire year — and in Big Ten play — came against the Hoosiers earlier this year. He also attempted his season-high in shots that game.

“I always say, the adjustment to go against Zach, it takes a game. It takes a game to kind of feel your way through it,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said following the first matchup this season. “It’s like playing a good pressing team and you press in practice and you’re not a pressing team and it’s like, ‘Okay, we’re ready for this team,’ and then you get to the game and are like, ‘Oh, shit. We didn’t see this in practice.’ (Ware) ain’t seeing (Edey) in practice. So it’s difficult to see someone that can move that’s 7-foot-4, 300 (pounds) with a size 20 (shoes) that plays hard every single play.”

With a game under his belt, will Kel’el Ware be more adjusted? Maybe. Maybe not. He’s also dealing with a slight knee injury that he suffered against Ohio State on Tuesday.

But, regardless for Indiana basketball — it’s going to take more than just Ware to slow down Edey. It’s going to be Ware, Malik Reneau, Payton Sparks and Anthony Walker.

“You got to bang some with him, because if you don’t, then you get embarrassed,” Woodson said of Edey. “He’s embarrassing a lot of teams. The guy is an unbelievable player. He’s a lot better than he was last year, and he was Player of the Year last year.

“We just got to go in with the mindset that, hey, hopefully we can stay out of foul trouble, bang a little bit, and play aggressive like they do and see what happens.”

SEE ALSO: Trayce Jackson-Davis confident in Indiana basketball despite recent struggles: ‘They’re a lot better than what they’re showing’

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