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College Basketball

Donovan Clingan vs. Zach Edey: Basketball world braces for iconic national title showdown

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Donovan Clingan and Zach Edey entered the NCAA Tournament as two towering centers and key pieces for their respective teams. Now, the two big men have delivered in March Madness, setting up a national title game for the ages.

In the first Final Four game, Edey delivered another historic outing as Purdue rolled past NC State and into the national final. Clingan and UConn battled Alabama for a while but ultimately pulled away at the buzzer for another double-digit victory in the tournament.

After the win by the Huskies, head coach Dan Hurley summed up the pending showdown perfectly:

“A battle of the giants, and I think it’s just great for college basketball… that we’ve got 2 big dogs fighting it out Monday night,” said Hurley. He also expressed a belief that UConn and Purdue have been the two best teams in college basketball since the start of last season.

As for the big man battle, it certainly has a chance to be legendary. Clingan is UConn’s 7-foot-2 big man who is surprisingly agile and nimble on the defensive end of the court. In the win over Alabama, he produced 18 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks while indirectly influencing a handful of other shots in the process.

Meanwhile, Edey snapped David Robinson’s streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament games with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds. Edey’s performance against NC State gives him 6 straight games, and he also became the first player in a Final Four with 20+ points, 10+ rebounds and 4+ assists since Carmelo Anthony in 2003.

Just how special is this type of matchup on the big stage? According to Matt Norlander with CBS Sports, it is the first-ever matchup in the Final Four between two starting centers listed at 7-foot-2 or taller. (Clingan is 7-foot-2 while Edey is listed at 7-foot-4.)

It’s also just the second time a pair of starting 7-footers have faced off in the national championship game. Patrick Ewing (Georgetown) vs. Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston) in 1984 was the occurrence.

Reaction to the matchup

To no surprise, that type of pending matchup lit up social media. Fans who love the traditional big man are in for a treat Monday night, and it’s bound to be must-see TV for anyone who loves college basketball!

At FanDuel, UConn opens as a 6.5-point favorite for Monday’s big-time showdown. Those two star big men also lead FanDuel‘s odds to win the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player honor.

Here is how social media reacted to the pending matchup:

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.

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