North Carolina State may be an 11 seed in this year's tournament, but the Wolfpack have won nine straight and emerged as the darlings of the NCAA Tournament. Purdue will have quite a challenge in the Final Four matchup, especially against big man DJ Barnes Jr.
Barnes had a solid performance at NC State through the first four games of the NCAA Tournament. He is averaging 18.3 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.
The issue the team has with Barnes has to do with his size. The senior is 6-foot-9 and weighs 275 pounds. So the question for Purdue is: Who will be tasked with guarding Barnes against Phoenix on Saturday?
Former Purdue standout and current college basketball analyst Robbie Hummel finds that particular decision very interesting. He believes it could be Zack Eady, Trey Kaufman-Wren, or both, who will be tasked with this task.
“Obviously the answer is Edie would just protect him,” Hummel said. big ten network. “I could see Purdue starting Eadie with (Mohamed) Diarra, then Trey Kaufman-Len starting four with Burns, and then Eadie playing as a rover. He came in and double-teamed them and they is going to be a double.'' Rotate the post out, knowing Diarra isn't going to kill you with three shots.
“That's going to be a choice they're going to have to make because Barnes has a deal with the wheels and he's got a really good left-handed jump hook. He can really pass. So they I can see you doing that.”
Through the first four games of the tournament, Eadie was the most dominant player on the court. But thanks to his status as North Carolina State's Cinderella, Barnes became a fan favorite.
“Burns really was the story of the tournament for them,” Hummel said. “He was phenomenal against Duke, and NC State is a really great story. But I think the most important thing for me is how Purdue protects him.”
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