For the second year in a row, Arkansas basketball is set to play in a high-profile exhibition matchup, and this season's contest will feature a tough task in reigning consensus National Player of the Year Zach Edey and the No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers.
Standing at 7-foot-4, 285 pounds, Edey's 2022 campaign was one of the best single seasons in college basketball history, as he averaged 22.3 points, 12.9. rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. Guarding him was nearly impossible last season no matter the opponent, so the Razorback frontcourt with have its hands full with the senior big man
"That's one of the reasons we were excited about playing Purdue," Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman said. "Maybe the hardest player in CBB to game plan against because of his size and skill level and teammates. Coach (Matt) Painter's done a great job of getting shooting to surround a player that's got great skill interior. I would say this prep, they're tough, they execute, a lot of continuity.
"I would say they're ahead of where we are today. And then you add in the fact that they played four games overseas. It's a team that'll present a lot of things that we need to try to cover in between now and Saturday afternoon."
With the ability to play such a dominant big man and a team with a chance to compete for a national title, this exhibition will be a good barometer for what the 2023-24 Arkansas team can be. The plan seems to be to guard Edey by committee, while the guards match the Boilermakers' physicality on the perimeter.
"Obviously, Khi (Mitchell) went through a stretch this summer of being injured," Musselman said. "He missed a good part of our offseason with a broken foot. I think in this particular game, Chandler Lawson will get an opportunity to guard Edey.
"Jalen Graham if he's able to suit up would possibly get a chance, maybe Baye Fall. Certainly Khi and Chandler are the two players on the roster that have the experience of guarding the more physical guys. It's not just Edey, Coffman is really physical."
Musselman made sure to point out that the preparation for Purdue was going like a normal regular season game, so that when they do get to the regular season there isn't "culture shock." The players seem to have picked up on that already.
"It's going to be a tough matchup for us," Chandler Lawson said. "We've got a lot of guys that are going to be guarding him, some fours and some fives. I feel like offensive-wise, we've got to run the floor and put him in so much pick-and-roll coverage. I feel like we've got to outrun him.
"The goal is just to run, run, run, just make him keep up with us and our athleticism. On the defensive end, it's going to be a whole group team effort. We've been doing a lot of drills in practice lately. The Edey rules, that's what we call it. I feel like we're doing a great thing at practice, just covering what Zach Edey likes to do and his tendencies."
Just because Edey is such a focal point of the Boilermakers' squad, that doesn't mean that the Razorbacks can forget about the rest of the Purdue playmakers.
"It's going to be a team effort," Lawson said. "I feel like we've been practicing so much in the gap this week, I feel like we're overdoing it on a lot of things. All eyes are going to be on Zach Edey, but we still have to watch out for the shooters and everyone else. We just don't want to give up too much and too many open areas in other spots on the court."
"If I'm guarding the dude who is trying to pass to him, putting pressure on him," Tramon Mark said. "Being a nasty on ball defender. If I'm off the ball, making Edey make a ready off our defense."
Matching up against such a talent has proven to be difficult enough for Musselman to dip into his NBA scouting reports to find a similar type of player.
"We've gone back to some of the notes we used when we played against Shaquille O'Neal," Musselman said. "To be honest, I did pull out some of the old scouting reports just because of the crowd you want Edey to play in. Meaning the five guys on the floor, how are you going to make him feel a little bit of pressure.
"You've got to obviously have more than just a Plan A to defend his post-up game, to defend his high-low game. He does a great job of faking like he's going to go set a screen or receive a screen and then get a lob pass. Actually, one of our players sent a clip of that, which was a huge positive to have one of our returners pull some clips and send it to our coaching staff. That means they're studying on their own."
No. 14 Arkansas will take on No. 3 Purdue on Saturday inside Bud Walton Arena. Proceeds from the exhibition will go to United Way to assist with relief efforts from the tornados that affected Arkansas this past spring. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT and it will be streamed live on the SEC Network+.
