UConn Basketball: 3 keys for National Championship matchup against Purdue

2. Slow down Purdue's guards like NC State did

Despite the score, NC State did a lot of things right when it came to how you beat Purdue. They did a great job in creating turnovers off Zach Edey, but they also did great against their strong guard play. Braden Smith, Lance Jones, and Fletcher Loyer as a whole did not have as strong of a first half as you would have wanted if you were the Boilermakers. The main issue for the Wolfpack was that they just could not knock down open looks, a couple of extra made shots could have flipped the game on its head.

UConn is a team that has the experience to not be scared of showing up for the moment, so the pressure should be something that they are used to. Purdue is going to put a ton of pressure on offensively, but the guard play in this matchup may just be what decides this game. Look for Tristen Newton to ball out, and for Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer to lock in defensively and knock down shots.

But yes, the main problem when trying to beat Purdue is to stop Edey, but his ability to take it in the post and kick it back out only works when the guards are shooting well off good looks. UConn has to rotate well defensively because they will have to collapse into the paint onto the big man.

UConn will need to keep their stamina up because the main way to beat Purdue is to hedge enough to make Edey kick out, and then prevent their guards from getting an open look after the pass.