Purdue star Zach Edey's greatness lies in more than just his numbers

Against the Wolverines, Edey lived up to that billing. Despite being without forward Olivier Nkamhoua, who is sidelined with a season-ending wrist injury, Michigan hung tough all afternoon at the Crisler Center. 

Even in the midst of a free-fall that has brought head coach Juwan Howard's future into question, the Wolverines have continued to fight. 

But when you're facing the best player in the country, that fight is typically bound to not shake out in your favor. 

Time after time on Sunday, Purdue guards Braden Smith and Foster Loyer would dump it down to Edey on the block. And time after time, The Big Maple proved his teammates made the right choice to give him the rock. 

"We just had to establish Zach," head coach Matt Painter told reporters postgame, on his offensive strategy after Michigan’s 10-4 spurt to open the contest. 

Well, mission accomplished on that front. Not only did Edey score 35 points, but he did so on a hyper-efficient 14-of-18 from the floor. He also went 7-of-11 from the charity stripe. 

Simply put, he changed the game. Not only with what he did on his own, but in how he opened up chances for his teammates.

When the Wolverines were fed up with his simple drop-step leaving his defender, they doubled him. But that just allowed the unselfish big man to kick it out for an open shot, or start a flurry of passes around the perimeter that eventually yielded one.

He didn't even need the ball in his hands to be effective. Edey's mere presence inside forced helpside defenders to cheat down into the paint, opening up skip passes and ball reversals. 

The result? On Sunday, it was a trifecta of triples for guard Lance Jones, two for reserve forward Mason Gillis and one each from Smith and Loyer. 

Oh, and as an added bonus, Edey kept pushing himself and his team to grow. After the contest, he told CBS Sports' Dan Bonner that the Boilermakers “have a lot of room to improve.”

"I don't think we're a finished product," he added. "I don't think anyone's satisfied with the level we're at now. I think everyone thinks we can get a lot better and that's what we're gonna keep doing."

Whether that push ends up with a run to the Final Four is impossible to predict without a bracket to assess. But make no mistake, Edey will put everything he has into helping Purdue accomplish that goal. 

It's what great players do.